2023.05.09 Shunde Grand Bridge Earns Patent for Smart Tower Cranes - Innovation Enhances Safety and Development of the GBA | 專利提塔機安全高效 順德大橋開拓大灣區新局面

The Shunde Grand Bridge is a key project in the Shunde District of Foshan. Its cable tower adopts a rare hybrid structure with a steel upper tower and a steel-concrete composite lower tower to achieve better environmental performance. The total length of the main bridge and bridge approach span 2.62 kilometers, comprises a bridge over the Ronggui Waterway and four bridge ramps. The bridge will be opened to traffic in 2025, which will bring the two subdistricts Ronggui and Daliang closer and benefit the development of the GBA. Ir Albert CHENG, Executive Director of the Construction Industry Council, led the GBA Technical Tour Delegation to visit to this iconic infrastructure by the Road & Bridge International Co., Ltd, which included the patented tower-lifting machine and smart site safety system.

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Factory Assembly Showcasing Mi Infinity

To minimise the impact on the original navigation channel, the main bridge is designed as a continuous semi-floating high-low twin-tower hybrid cable-stayed bridge. The bridge towers are of 204 metres and 151 metres tall. To take the taller tower as an example, it is divided into 32 sections, with the lower beam being a "steel composite structure" weighing about 589 tonnes, the middle and upper beams being steel structures, and the tower sections are made up of both "steel composite structure" and "steel structure". The sections of the tower were constructed in the factory, saving manpower and reducing risks and time working at height. Mr. HUANG Kai-kai from the project team also shared that, “the use of a large number of steel structures can effectively reduce pollution caused by concrete construction and facilitate the recycling of steel materials, thus achieving a low carbon footprint.”

Develop Tower Lifting Machine as a “Transformer”

Most of the steel towers of cable-stayed bridges and suspension bridges in China were installed by floating cranes and tower cranes, and tower cranes are more commonly used for the installation of steel towers with divided sections due to their wider coverage. However, according to Mr. HUANG Kai-kai, the lack of tower cranes with lifting capacity of over 200 tonnes and their low utilisation rate in China prompted them to develop a tower hoist during the construction of the Shunde Grand Bridge. The tower hoist, which is hydraulically operated, has a vertical climbing capacity of 250 tonnes and is suitable for constructing bridge's cable towers, beams and steel box girders, enabling it to be used for three purposes. After continuous adaptation and improvement, the tower hoist completed the first lift of the tower in September 2022 and completed the lifting of section T17 in February 2023, with a total of 26 sections of left and right tower limbs. It took only 108 days to build up to 112 metres, with an average height of approximately 1 metre per day. The tower sections are manufactured in the factory and installed on site by means of an intelligent tower hoist, which effectively reduces the time required for working at height. To further ensure the safety of the workers, a smart control centre is set up on site to monitor wind speed, weather and cylinder pressure, while key technical staff stayed in the centre to monitor and direct the project operation via 360° cameras and multiple screens, so that only three people were required to work at height.

Top 50 in GBA and Promising Future of the Application

Compared to floating cranes, tower hoists are cheaper and can be used in a wider range of applications, even in mountainous areas. The tower crane has been granted six patents, as well as a number of patents for development and subsequent planning, and was selected as one of the "Top 50 Strategic Emerging Industry Cluster Projects" in the 2022 GBA High-value Patent Portfolio Layout Competition among over 1,000 participating teams. After visiting the Shunde Grand Bridge, Ir Albert CHENG, Executive Director of the CIC, commended the team for their continuous innovation and development of safer and more efficient tower-lifting machines, which will benefit more large-scale infrastructure and construction projects.

順德大橋是佛山市順德區重點工程，設計罕有地採用大跨徑鋼殼及混凝土組合塔斜拉橋以提升環保表現。大橋路線約長2.62公里，預計於2025年通車，將拉近大良與容桂兩鎮的距離，造福接近100萬人口，將有助帶動大灣區發展。建造業議會執行總監鄭定寕工程師早前率領建造業議會大灣區建造技術參訪團到訪這項標誌性基建，獲中交路橋建設有限公司介紹包括獲得多項專利的提塔機及安全智慧工地系統。

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工廠組裝展示Mi無極限

順德大橋的主橋採用連續半漂浮高低雙塔混合樑斜拉橋設計，能夠將對原本航道的影響降至最低。大橋兩側的橋塔分別高204米及151米，以204米的高塔為例，塔身分為32個節段，下橫樑為重約589噸的「鋼混組合結構」；中及上橫樑均為鋼結構，塔柱亦由「鋼混組合結構」及「鋼結構」兩部分組成。項索塔的節段於工廠預製施工，大大減省現場人手需求，同時減少高空工作的時間。中交路橋建設有限公司項目經理部黃開開先生亦表示：「項目大量採用鋼結構，能有效降低混凝土施工造成的污染，而且多餘的鋼材更可回收再用，達至低碳環保。」

研發「變形金鋼」提塔機

國內已通車的斜拉橋或懸索橋鋼塔大多運用浮吊、塔吊等安裝方式。塔吊因覆蓋範圍廣等優點，所以獲廣泛應用於劃分節段的鋼塔吊裝施工。不過，據黃開開先生所說，目前國內擁有200噸以上起重能力的塔吊設備相對缺乏，而且使用率低，促使他們在興建順德大橋時研發智能提塔機。提塔機採用液壓方式運作，具有豎向爬升能力，提重能力可達約250噸，更適用於大橋索塔、橫樑及鋼箱樑施工，實現「一機三用」。經過不斷適應及改進，提塔機於2022年9月為高塔完成首次吊裝，至2023年2月完成T17吊裝施工，左右塔肢合計完成26節，期間有效施工時間為108天，施工高度112米，平均每天施工高度約為1米。

鋼塔節段於工廠生產，再於工地現場透過智能提塔機安裝，有效減低高空工作時間。工程團隊為求進一步確保施工人員的安全，於工地現場設立智能監控中心，能夠藉此監察風速、天氣、油缸壓力，而主要技術人員會留守設備監控室，透過360°攝錄機及多個螢幕監察及指揮，令工序減少至只需三人在高空工作。

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躋身大賽五十強 有望廣泛應用

相對浮吊等方式，提塔機成本較低，而且應用範圍廣，甚至可在山區施工，加上安全風險低、總施工期更可控的優點，有望將來應用於更多大型橋樑工程項目。提塔機已獲得六項專利證書，以及多項發明及後續策劃專利，並於2022年粵港澳大灣區高價值專利培育布局大賽，在逾千個參賽團隊中脫穎而出，榮登「戰略性新興產業集群五十項強項目」。建造業議會執行總監鄭定寕工程師參觀過後，讚揚團隊不斷創新求變，研發出更安全、更高效的提塔機，將能裨益更多大型基建及工程項目。

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