Chinese firm completes beam closure along China-Laos railway

NAMOR, Laos - A Chinese engineering company has completed the closing of the first cast-in-place continuous beam on Saturday.

China Railway No 5 Engineering Group (CREC-5) told Xinhua that at 03:20 local time on the same day, the company successfully completed the closure with cradle construction technique, at the under-construction Nathon Station Double-track Super Major Bridge, some 360 km North of Lao capital Vientiane.

The cast-in-place continuous beam is of 36+64+36 meters, part of the 1,195.822-meter bridge.

The construction of the railway bridges along the China-Laos railway made a breakthrough in 2018. China Railway No 2 Engineering Group (CREC-2) has completed the main work construction of Nam Khone super major bridge, the longest bridge along China-Laos railway, also the longest-ever bridge in Laos in June. In July, all the foundation construction work of all the two cross-Mekong River super major bridges, namely the the Luang Prabang bridge and Ban Ladhan bridge, has been completed by CREC-8.

The China-Laos railway has a length of over 414 km with bridges of 62 km under construction, linking Mohan-Boten border gate in northern Laos and capital Vientiane. Operating speed on the route is designed at 160 km per hour.