Drilling at the "foothold" of Xiamen Third East Passage The first pile foundation of the main tower of Liuwudian suspension bridge began punching, marking a breakthrough in the control project of the Third East Passage 
Yesterday, the first pile foundation of the main tower of Liuwudian suspension bridge of the Third East Passage was officially drilled. (Photographed by Wang Xieyun) 
Yesterday, the first pile foundation of the main tower of Liuwudian suspension bridge of the Third East Passage was officially drilled. (Photographed by Wang Xieyun) Xiamen Daily (Reporter Xie Jiadi Correspondent Lin Jianglin) Yesterday, the first pile foundation of the main tower of Liuwudian Suspension Bridge on Xiamen's Third East Passage was officially drilled. The project plans to complete 100 pile foundations of two main towers within the year, laying a solid foundation for the construction of the superstructure of the project. This node also marks a breakthrough in the control project of the Third East Passage Project. Pile foundation is the foundation for opening the construction face for offshore bridge construction and offshore operation. According to Sui Wenfei, the project manager of Lot A1 of Xiamen Road and Bridge Engineering Company, the construction agent, this spud in pile foundation is located 2.4 kilometers offshore, with a pile length of 47.8 meters and a pile diameter of 3 meters, which is one of the "footholds" supporting the west main tower of Liuwudian suspension bridge to stabilize the sea. At about 8:00 yesterday morning, the first pile operation officially started as the impact hammer fell into the sea from the air along the inner core of the steel casing. "Dong, Dong..." With the full cooperation of the constructors of the Second Harbor Engineering Bureau from the construction unit on the site, the mechanical arm pulls the jack hammer up and down, and the hammer falls repeatedly. Sui Wenfei said: "According to the current speed, it is expected that the punching operation of the pile can be completed in 30 days. Then we will pour underwater marine concrete into the steel casing, and finally build it into a composite pile with steel outer wall and concrete inner core." From the perspective of construction process, the composite pile foundation combines two construction processes of steel cylinder composite pile and punched cast-in-place pile, and the operation process is more complex. It is an important starting point for the project to create a "boutique project": the granite in the west main tower area of Liuwudian suspension bridge is unevenly differentiated, and spherical boulders are randomly distributed. The prefabricated steel casings are driven first in the complex seabed geological environment, as if the "construction coordinates" for the pile foundation project were accurate in advance. Sui Wenfei told reporters that such composite steel pipe piles can not only effectively participate in the stress of bridge structures, but also effectively resist the corrosion of seawater on concrete, improve the durability of bridges and ensure the service life of bridges in the sea. At present, 47 pile foundation steel casings have been completed for the west main tower of Liuwudian suspension bridge, with the progress exceeding 90%; In June 2025, the construction of the main tower of the bridge is expected to start for Lot A1 of the project. Project Introduction Liuwudian Suspension Bridge of the Third East Passage The Xiamen Third East Passage Project starts from Siming District of Xiamen Island, the main line extends along the Huandao Road to Guanyin Mountain, crosses the eastern sea area of the island with a bridge to the east, and ends at the sea area near Dadeng Island, connecting Xiang'an Airport, with a total length of 17.45km. After completion, the traffic efficiency from Xiamen Island to Xiang'an Airport will be greatly improved. Among them, the Liuwudian Waterway Bridge in the middle of the sea is 1948 meters long, which is the first offshore suspension bridge in the province; The main tower is a portal frame structure, which adopts a steel shell reinforced concrete composite cable tower with a height of 178 meters and a span of 928 meters from east to west, making it the largest bridge span in the province. | 
