Reported by Li Zeng-Wang / County Government’s Report
All the 18 piles for the P48 main abutment in the deep trench area of the Kinmen Bridge project were laid at midnight of October 31st. It is the first to have completed all foundation piles among the five main abutments in the deep trench area. This phased accomplishment carries a significant meaning for the Kinmen Bridge project.
According to the Freeway Bureau, MOTC, the Kinmen Bridge project started laying its first foundation pile (of a diameter of 2.5m) for the P48 main abutment in the deep trench area on March 12th this year. The project team did not slacken thereafter. The hard granite 23 meters underneath the sea surface were tackled, and the challenges of strong current and hard granite were overcome. After more than 200 days’ round-the-clock effort, all piles of the first abutment for the main bridge in the area trench area have been completed. Subsequently, the foundation and pier construction will continue. The first pier erecting out of the waves in the deep trench area can be expected by next year.
The Freeway Bureau revealed that piling works in the deep trench area is a critical task for the Kinmen Bridge project. Piling of the first foundation pile (2.5m diameter and 45.2m long) for the Kinmen Bridge project took 20 days to complete due to the need to grope for the underwater granite terrain and to seek the appropriate construction method. Then the construction method has been adjusted based on the feedback from each operation, and progress has been made to complete one pile in 10~12 days on average. It means the team has effectively mastered the skill of piling in sea.
In order to speed up the piling works in the deep trench area, the professional team that had worked on the piling of Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge was invited in July this year. The vendor is adept at offshore piling works. The hard granite terrain in Kinmen in particular calls for the team’s experience in piling works for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge to ensure mastery of the critical skills. Together with the original Taiwanese and Korean teams, there are now three professional teams working on the piling works. The project involves a total of 11 abutments and 193 piles for the main and side bridges, and 74 of them have been completed. For the remaining 119 piles, more work platforms will be added up to six, in order to speed up pile completion in the deep trench area.
Apart from all the 2.5m diameter piles of P48 completed on October 31st, all the 17 piles of 2.0m in diameter for the P50 side bridge in the deep trench area are also expected to complete in early November this year. Then the pile groups for the piers of the P46 and P47 main bridges will also be completed sooner or later. Expectedly, all 193 piles in the deep trench area will be completed next year. By that time, all submarine works for Kinmen Bridge will be completed and above-sea works will start. The project will then progress with great leaps.
Upon completion of the P48 piling works, pile foundation works will follow. The contractor has finished the foundation steel cofferdam design (maximum size: 29m x 23m x 10.8m). Production of the cofferdams will be completed in November, which will then be brought to the site for assembly. The first bridge pier in the deep trench area can be expected in the next spring, and thereafter 11 piers in the deep trench area will appear one after another, representing the most concrete display of the project’s accomplishment. In addition, production of the precast segments for the superstructure has commenced in late October at the production site in Singda Harbor of Kaohsiung. The project progress is expected to be greatly enhanced in 2019.
Another focus of the project is the foundation of Siaojinduan in an area with a seabed depth over 7 meters. After completing the first foundation of underwater steel box cofferdam in Taiwan on July 16th, 2018, three cofferdams have been completed in a row. The bridge superstructure of Siaojinduan has been smoothly progressing, expecting to move forward the planned goal of 6 spans by the end of this year.
The Freeway Bureau described how gingerly the Kinmen Bridge project team has been working in face of various challenges and difficulties, always seeking solutions to each and every challenge. Now that problems are overcome and works are accomplished, the project team will keep working all out to ensure the successful completion of the Kinmen Bridge in 2021, in order to actualize Kinmen residents’ ardent anticipation over the years.