On October 16, the construction of the Wu-Jing-Yi Expressway Port Railway Bridge, undertaken by China Energy Engineering Group Gezhouba, reached a significant milestone as all of the main pier's continuous beams were successfully poured, and the central span of the left side was closed successfully. The Wu-Jing-Yi Expressway project begins near Liujiatan Village, on the border of Jingmen and Tianmen, connecting with the Tianmen section of the Wuhan-Chongqing Expressway, and ends near Haotai Village, south of Wulipu Town, Jingmen City, covering a total length of 44.139 kilometers. The section constructed by the company, the Wu-Jing-Yi Expressway (Section II), is 13.444 kilometers long and is designed to standard specifications for a six-lane expressway with a design speed of 120 kilometers per hour. This section includes six bridges (excluding ramp bridges), with the Port Railway Bridge located in Lijiaping, Shayang County, Jingmen City, spanning both the Shayang Port Railway (main bridge) and Provincial Road 342, with a total length of 1,258 meters. The main bridge consists of a 56+100+56-meter variable cross-section continuous beam, constructed using cantilever pouring methods, making it the largest span prestressed concrete continuous beam bridge in the project to date.

Throughout the construction process, the project team on-site actively addressed challenges such as high-altitude work, rainfall, and structural stress and temperature deformation, employing a water bag dynamic balancing method along with an intelligent tensioning system to apply equivalent counterweights and maintain structural balance. To combat temperature variations, a steel component framework was utilized to form a 「rigid skeleton,」 and before concrete pouring, the beam ends were temporarily rigidly connected to effectively resist expansion and contraction caused by temperature changes. Pouring was conducted during optimal temperature window periods with lower temperatures and minimal fluctuations to minimize the thermal expansion and contraction impact on the beam structure. Additionally, the use of high-strength micro-expansion concrete, spraying curing systems, and automated monitoring equipment on-site effectively prevented cracking, while real-time monitoring of beam elevation and stress changes ensured dynamic control throughout the process, facilitating a seamless connection between the closure segment and the cantilever end. Currently, the Wu-Jing-Yi Expressway project is making significant progress toward the conversion of work processes following the closure and the construction of auxiliary engineering such as the bridge deck system. The Wu-Jing-Yi Expressway is a key component of the national expressway network and plays an essential role in Hubei Province’s layout of 「nine verticals, five horizontals, and three rings.」 It is expected to be fully operational by June 2026, which will effectively alleviate traffic pressure on the Shanghai-Rong and Shanghai-Chongqing expressways, accelerate the formation of the Wuhan to Chongqing expressway corridor, and further strengthen economic connections between the eastern, central, and western regions of Hubei. This development holds significant importance for promoting interconnectivity among the Yangtze River central urban agglomeration and the Chengyu urban agglomeration, as well as contributing to the construction of the Han River ecological economic belt and the high-quality development of the Yangtze River economic belt.