autoevolution
 

Chinese Highway Overpass Gets Taken Down and Rebuilt in Less than Two Days

Road construction is still a pretty serious business: it's laborious, and it takes a lot of time and a lot of resources. Yet, it's vital for the development of local and national economies, so for most governments it's something of a priority.
Beijing overpass construction 1 photo
Photo: Screenshot from YouTube
But regardless whether it's a highway being built from scratch or one that needs repairing, the list of problems the constructors face is endless. In the first case, the most difficult part is finding the best route and relocating or refunding those people who currently own the land.

When the road is already there but needs serious maintenance work or even replacing, there's the problem of traffic flow. The road has to be closed, the traffic needs to be diverted and a lot of people will be cursing while the constructor will be feeling the pressure.

Another key factor is that road construction methods have remained the same over the last few years. No real progress has been made, and that's not something to be proud of. And yet, there is this new idea that's starting to take shape. It's called modular construction.

It's been in use in building construction for decades, but after watching this video from Beijing, China, we're hoping more and more people will see its use and think about employing it more often.

The Chinese workers demolished a multi-lane highway overpass and built it back on in just 43 hours. It was on one of Beijing's ring roads that usually sees heavy traffic. A normal approach to this problem would have meant closing the road for at least two months, according to Shanghaiist quoted by citylab.com.

You can see the already assembled road section waiting patiently for the cranes to make room for it right from the start of the video. Once it was in place, all the workers had to do was pave the road and paint the road markings, and their job was done. Less money, less wasted time, less congested traffic.

See the whole 43 hours in a one-minute time-lapse below:

If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
About the author: Vlad Mitrache
Vlad Mitrache profile photo

"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
Full profile

 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories