On Friday, Nov. 13, a massive, aging overpass in Beijing is set to be replaced with a new one within just 24 hours.
If the project is completed, the job will set a record in China as the shortest replacement time involving a huge infrastructure.
In a statement by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport, the construction will take place at the northeast section of the Third Ring Road's Sanyuanqiao overpass. The infrastructure, which will be replaced with a 1,300-metric-ton overpass, links the city with the Beijing Capital International Airport.
The area is regarded as one of the busiest traffic zones in the city.
The endeavor will also serve as the first time for China to use special dollies--low wheeled platforms--in moving giant prefabricated bridge pieces and install them fully intact. The dollies can carry 1,000 tons each.
The overpass and the Jingshun Highway section beneath the infrastructure are set to be closed from 11 p.m. on Friday until Saturday midnight. Vehicles will also be prohibited.
To prop up the new bridge span as well as its old sections, the people behind the project have prepared buttresses both outside and inside the Third Ring Road.
The workers plan to cut the old overpass, which was completed in 1984, into 18 pieces then move them to the buttresses. Using two dollies, the new bridge will next be moved into place.
Once the replacement is done and the traffic resumes, the old sections will be hauled away.
The Sanyuanqiao overpass carries over 200,000 vehicles daily, according to Engineer Qin Dahang of the Beijing General Municipal Engineering and Research Institute Co.