Significant progress in the series of renovations of the China-Europe freight trains’ “Eastern Corridor”- opening up speed restrictions on main railway sections
On October 21, during an interview, Liu Dexu, the technical head of the Binsui Railway Project at China Railway Fifth Design & Survey Institute, shared insights on a major infrastructure development. He stated, “The project employed a cantilever frame bridge replacement solution, allowing for the existing beam-style bridges to be replaced without requiring transitional construction on the active railway line. We renovated six old bridge spans using six different construction windows, completing both the framework installation and the old beam dismantling within the same work period.”
The Binsui Railway, which runs from Harbin to Suifenhe, has been a critical transportation route in China for nearly a century, serving as a key link to Eurasia and an important transit point for the China-Europe Railway Express.
On the same day, after seven hours of closure for construction work, the freight train No. 52403 passed through the newly completed bridge section between Pingshan and Maoshan in Heilongjiang Province. The renovation effectively doubled the speed limit of trains on this segment from 60 km/h to 120 km/h, removing previous speed restrictions and enhancing the capacity of this vital railway line.
Zhao Huanmin, the project manager from China Railway 22nd Bureau Group, addressed some of the challenges faced during construction. “Our work is located in a cold climate area where we had to contend with issues like frost heave and snow damage,” he explained. “We utilized BIM technology to model various construction scenarios, preventing safety and quality issues related to errors or omissions, and ensuring high-quality completion of the bridge work, enabling a comprehensive speed increase for train services.”
The completion of this project is poised to alleviate the growing bottleneck in passenger and freight transport capacity between Harbin and the Suifenhe port, marking a significant advancement for the revitalization of Northeast China and serving the China-Europe Railway Express by enhancing its quality, efficiency, and safety.
