The Sutong Bridge across the lower Yangtze River in China will have, when completed,
the longest span (1, 088 m) and the highest towers (306 m) of any cable stayed span in
the world. The foundations for this record setting span will also be record setting. They
are located in water depths exceeding 30 m with maximum flows exceeding 3 m/sec.
The soil at the site of the main pylons consists of layers of silty sands and silty clays
extending to bed rock at 270 m below river elevation. This paper describes the
innovative methods used by the team of foundation designers and constructors to
support this record setting bridge at this very challenging site. This paper covers three
specific topics related to the foundations of the Sutong Bridge:
• Design and construction of the 131 drilled shaft (2.8/2.5 m diameter and 114/117 m
long) under each of the two main pylons, including the post-grouting of all drilled
shaft tips.
• Design and construction of the scour protection for the two main pylons,
• Construction methods used to construct the waterline pile caps (113.8 m by 48.1 m
by 13.3 m deep) under each pylon.
Author: Robert B. Bittner & Osama Safaqah, Ben C. Gerwick, Inc., Xigang Zhang HPDI, China, Ole Juul Jensen & Ole Rud Hansen, COWI A/S, Denmark
Publisher: DFI