Construction of bridges drives economy of SW China's Guizhou

Bridges are an unmistakable feature of road construction in southwest China's Guizhou Province due to its complex terrain.

"It is a very challenging task to build bridges in a terrain such as Guizhou because it is difficult to find flat sites for installation work," said Huang Kunquan, a bridge expert and former deputy chief engineer of the Guizhou Expressway Group Co., Ltd. He had participated in the construction of several world-class bridge projects in the province.

Photo taken in January 2023 shows the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge under construction in southwest China's Guizhou Province. (People's Daily Online/Tu Min)

Data shows Guizhou issued 20 technical manuals and seven local standards, and applied for 13 patents in terms of bridge construction in the past decade, thanks to the bravery and bold innovation of bridge builders, filling many gaps in technology in the country while breaking several world records.

Because of the large number of bridges, their types, building materials, and complex technologies used in the construction of the bridges, Guizhou is known as "the world's bridge museum."

Leveraging its well-connected transport networks, Guizhou has developed a thriving big data industry. In recent years, the province has become one of the eight national computing hubs. Thanks to the accelerated building of the first national big data comprehensive pilot zone in China and the national pilot zone for the innovative development of the digital economy, the growth of Guizhou's digital economy ranked first across the country for seven consecutive years.