A set of floating bump-shielding apparatus has been installed recently for the Yichang-Wanzhou Yangtze River Bridge in central China's Hubei Province.

A boat drives past the Yichang-Wanzhou Yangtze River bridge, which has been installed with a set of floating bump-shielding apparatus on July 3, 2008. The bridge is located in Yichang in central China's Hubei Province. [Photo: Xinhua]

This is the first time that this apparatus has been being used on Yangtze River bridges, China water transport journal says.

Especially designed for the more than 50 bridges on the Yangtze River, this apparatus was jointly developed by Wuhan University of Technology and a local company specialized in bridge bump-shielding projects in Wuhan of central China's Hubei Province.

The apparatus composes of several floating bump-shielding bodies and flexible cushioning damping organs, which are all installed around the piers.

The report says the new installment can adjust itself when bumped by a boat to ease the force of the collision, leaving less damage for both the bridge and the boat.

Also, rolling components were used on the surface of the piers to reduce friction produced during the collision. The rolling component can help reduce the damage better than sliding friction produced by traditional bump-shielding equipment.

The apparatus is able to resist the collision from a 10,000-tonnage fleet or a 4,000-tonnage ship driving at 3 meters per second.

The Yichang-Wanzhou Yangtze River bridge is one of the key parts of the railway between Yichang, a city in central China's Hubei Province, and Wanzhou, a district of southwest China's Chongqing Municipality.

One pier of the Yichang-Wanzhou Yangtze River bridge is installed with a set of floating bump-shielding apparatus, as shown in this photo taken on July 3, 2008. The bridge is located in Yichang in central China's Hubei Province. [Photo: Xinhua]

(Xinhua News Agency, CRI July 5, 2008)