The Huanqing Bridge, classified as a cultural relic, is a three cross-beam bridge spanning a river. After years of neglect it suffered partial and then total collapse in 2009.
Nine years later the Heritage Research and Conservation Center at Shanghai Jiao Tong University asked Cintec if the bridge could be reinstated using the company’s proprietary anchor systems.
The alternative was to support the bridge with a steel frame erected under the profile of the structure – an option that was both expensive and unsightly.
The bridge is not large. It spans just over 17 metres, is two metres wide and the supporting piers are 3.2 metres high. The deck slab is 250mm thick.
When Cintec visited the site in 2018 all that was visible of the remains of the bridge were random sections of stone beams partially or totally submerged in the river.
Fortunately, Jiao Tong University has carried out a full survey of the bridge and its many components and recorded all the fractures in the stonework.
Nanjing-based Zhujiu Building Conservation Company, Cintec’s approved installation company in China, worked with Cintec to develop a repair methodology in partnership with UK structural engineer MDHP.
MDHP specified Cintec GB20 anchors cemented into 50mm-diameter holes bored with a diamond core drill to repair the broken components and join the bridge elements together again in their original configuration.
This solution allowed the bridge to be reinstated with no visible evidence of repair. New foundations were prepared in the river bed to receive the vertical members which form the piers. The horizontal and inclined stone members were then fitted together using their original mortice and tenon joints.
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