Yan'an East Ring Expressway opens, completing city expressway loop and boosting regional connectivity

The Yan'an East Ring Expressway officially opened to traffic on July 30, completing the 130-kilometer expressway loop around Yan'an in Shaanxi province. Built with the participation of China Railway Seventh Group Xi'an Company, the project will ease traffic congestion in the city, improve the efficiency of the expressway network across northern Shaanxi, shorten travel times between Xi'an, Yan'an and Yulin, and support red tourism, integrated transportation and coordinated regional development in the old revolutionary base area.

Located southeast of Yan'an's urban area, the 56.7-kilometer expressway is a key project in Shaanxi's provincial expressway network and a core component of Yan'an's urban expressway system. Built to four-lane expressway standards with a design speed of 100 km/h, the route connects the Changyan Expressway at Yaodian East and links with the Baotou-Maoming Expressway via the Zhangcha Interchange. The route includes 50 bridges and 13 tunnels, with bridges and tunnels accounting for nearly 46 percent of its total length.

One of the project's signature achievements is the swivel bridge at Nanniwan Airport, constructed by China Railway Seventh Group Xi'an Company. Crossing both the Baotou-Xi'an Railway and the Xi'an-Yan'an High-speed Railway, the bridge presented one of the project's greatest engineering challenges. Standing 67 meters high, with a swivel weight of 25,000 metric tons, a span configuration of 2 meters by 70 meters and a rotation angle of 77.49 degrees, it is currently the world's highest, heaviest and largest-span upper swivel bridge.

To overcome these challenges, the project team adopted a series of advanced construction technologies, including BIM modeling, structural simulation, intelligent monitoring and innovative angled bracket construction methods. The bridge's rotation system combines a high-capacity spherical hinge bearing with an intelligent control system, enabling precise installation and automated monitoring throughout the swivel operation. During the railway maintenance window, sensors continuously tracked structural stress and deformation, while real-time data was transmitted to the command center, allowing the bridge to rotate by precisely 77.49 degrees and achieve millimeter-level alignment.

The new expressway provides seamless connections with Nanniwan Airport, the Baotou-Xi'an Railway, the Xi'an-Yan'an High-speed Railway and the under-construction Yan'an-Yulin High-speed Railway, creating an integrated transport network linking road, rail and air services.

The opening of the Yan'an East Ring Expressway marks a major milestone in strengthening Yan'an's modern transportation network. It will further support China's Western Development Strategy while providing stronger transport connectivity for the coordinated development and revitalization of the revolutionary base areas across Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia.