China It is the country of the craziest road structures: it is home to most of the highest bridges on the planet or what is known as “the highway to heaven”, with more than 200 viaducts and 25 tunnels. Also our protagonist today, which is considered the largest and most complicated overpass ever conceived.
Its about Huangjuewan interchange: With several levels, many ramps and almost a dozen possible directions, it looks like an asphalt roller coaster. It stretches for more than 16 km and, just by looking at it, you wonder if it is real and how you can get around there without getting lost.
With 20 ramps, eight directions and up to five levels to reduce traffic jams
This elevated interchange is in the city of Chongqingone of the largest in China with 17.3 million inhabitants. Although the entire region has more than 30 million residents. It grew very quickly, as did the traffic jams. This flyover was created to reduce them, as well as to improve the connections of the city.
It is located in Nan’an District and It connects three major highways: G65, G50S and Yuhang Avenue. Thus, the urban centre is connected to the outskirts or the airport, reducing travel time.
Huangjuewan interchange It consists of 20 ramps and eight possible directions, which are articulated on five levels. It extends over about 16.4 km and its maximum height is 37 mwhich reaches the highest level in points. Crazy.
Between mountains. Building this gigantic elevated interchange was a real challenge because of its location: a mountainous and very irregular area. So the design and planning of this passage took engineers five years. Despite this, it was built in record time: Construction began in 2009 and was completed in 2017.opening to traffic in June of that year.
To adapt to the terrain, and not disrupt traffic on the roads and highways over which it rises (and connects), they opted for structures such as tubular steel columns filled with concrete and composite beams.
Once completed, the plans were barely modified, apart from a few adjustments during construction. However, they have evolved to make it easier for drivers to navigate inside. Which leads us to the inevitable question: does the navigator work well there?
The terror of GPS and drivers? Although it is noted that special work has been done to ensure that GPS maps are up to date and the routes are correct, having several layers superimposed on the satellite navigators can make it difficult for them to identify the real location of the car. So, one might wonder how to find your way around insideAnd, above all, how many extra kilometers you have to travel if you take the wrong ramp or exit.
Its creators maintain that they took human error into account in its design, adding additional ramps to those initially planned so that the vehicle can turn around quickly. According to Liu Bangjundesigner of this engineering work, Drivers can turn around in a maximum of 10 minutes.
He also argues that it is perfectly signposted to avoid getting lost. In fact, the signs are in English as well as Mandarin and the names of the roads are shown in numerical codes.
In addition, this kilometer-long and intricate overpass is monitored by cameras and sensors, to control in real time traffic conditions and regulate the flow of vehicles. It also has smart traffic lights and variable panels that provide information about possible alternative routes if an area is very congested.
In the event of a traffic jam or accident, it is ready to quickly guide drivers, allow emergency access as much as possible and minimise possible interruptions. Whatever the case, it is still a structure that is impressive to say the least and that is incredibly scary to think about driving through.
Source: www.motorpasion.com
