With 25,000 tons, 144 meters in length, and a counterweight of 1,750 tons, China rotates an entire bridge in 80 minutes with millimeter precision monitored by satellite.

Written by Ana Alice

Published on 22/05/2026 at 23:27

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A bridge of thousands of tons was moved in a rare engineering operation, with controlled rotation, satellite monitoring, and sufficient precision to align the structure over an operational railway area.

A bridge of about 25 thousand tons completed a millimetric rotation in the early hours of May 8, 2026, in Foshan, Guangdong province, southern China.

The structure is part of the Lingnan Road project in the Nanhai district and took about 80 minutes to rotate 80 degrees counterclockwise until it aligned with the planned access section.

The operation’s main feature was the controlled movement of a large structure over an operational railway area.

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Bridge rotation with millimetric precision

In the Lingnan Road project, the movement occurred continuously and at low speed.

The bridge gradually advanced until completing the 80 degrees planned in the project and connecting to the approach section.

The precision of the fit depended on the simultaneous control of weight, speed, friction, and position.

The maneuver required technical monitoring throughout the process.

In a structure with tens of thousands of tons, small variations in balance or resistance can affect the final result.

Therefore, the operation was monitored in real-time, with data sent to the team responsible for conducting the rotation.

The project was described by Chinese sources as an asymmetric and unbalanced rotation.

This occurred because the ends of the structure did not have the same weight and length distribution.

To compensate for this difference, the engineers used a 1,750-ton counterweight, a central element to stabilize the movement.

According to the Science and Technology Daily, the combination of total weight, asymmetric geometry, and counterweight set a record for bridges of the same type in southern China.

The information refers to the category of unbalanced rotation adopted in the project, and not to all swing bridges ever built in the country.

1,750-ton Counterweight Helped Control the Structure

Before the rotation, the responsible team conducted digital simulations and structural measurements.

These procedures served to calculate parameters such as imbalance moment, eccentricity, friction, and resistance to movement.

With the data defined, the engineers adjusted the counterweight and established the execution speed.

The goal of the preparatory stage was to reduce instabilities during the rotation.

The control needed to ensure that the bridge moved within the planned trajectory and stopped at the point defined by the project.

The operation also depended on coordination with the existing railway infrastructure, as the section passes over high-speed lines.

The construction was carried out by China Railway No. 2 Engineering Group, a company linked to China Railway Engineering Corporation, according to Chinese publications.

The management involved participation from structures linked to the Guangzhou railway sector, responsible for part of the coordination in areas close to the operational lines.

Besides the counterweight, the project included a structural strategy aimed at reducing interventions on the tracks.

The Science and Technology Daily reported that the section over the railway adopted a 10-degree angle in the beam body.

The solution was used to avoid a closure joint in an area considered more restricted for works.

Monitoring with BeiDou on the Swing Bridge

The operation monitoring used technology linked to the BeiDou, the Chinese satellite navigation system.

According to the information released in China, sensors installed on the structure collected data on the bridge’s posture, stress distribution, and rotation speed.

This information was sent in real-time to the command center.

With this, the team was able to track the position of the structure throughout the movement and verify if the motion followed the defined parameters.

The visual monitoring also allowed observing any variations during the rotation.

The use of sensors reduced the reliance on purely visual inspections.

In an operation of this scale, continuous data reading helps guide adjustments during the process.

In the case of the Lingnan Road bridge, the precision reported by Chinese sources was attributed to the combination of rotation system, digital monitoring, and prior planning.

The BeiDou technology is already used in different infrastructure areas in China, including transportation, civil works, and logistics.

In the rotation of the bridge in Foshan, the system was employed to support the positional control of the structure and continuously record the progress of the operation.

Lingnan Road should integrate areas of Foshan

The bridge is part of the Lingnan Road project over railways, with a total length of approximately 1.3 kilometers.

The road was planned with six lanes in both directions and a design speed of 40 km/h.

When completed, the connection should link areas near Qicha Avenue and Xin’an Road.

The project is also associated with the integration of the Qiandeng Lake urban axis in the Nanhai district.

According to local media, the project aims to improve circulation between areas separated by railway infrastructure.

In dense urban regions, high-speed tracks can limit road connections and increase travel between nearby neighborhoods.

The new connection was planned to reduce this barrier effect.

With the completion of the section over the railway, the road should offer an additional connection between areas north and south of the tracks.

The rotation stage represented a necessary phase to position the structure without prolonged interruption of railway operation.

There are still complementary stages before the full delivery of the project, according to available information.

The rotation, however, consolidated the main alignment of the bridge with the access section.

From this point, the work now depends on the remaining phases of finishing, road connection, and operational release.

The operation in Foshan shows how rotation techniques can be used in urban works with space and traffic constraints.

Instead of executing the entire service directly over the tracks, engineering moves most of the construction to a lateral area and reduces the intervention time at the critical point.

The case also highlights the increasing use of digital systems in large infrastructure projects.

Sensors, simulations, and satellite monitoring allow for tracking structural displacements with a greater volume of data.

In urban areas crossed by railways, this type of solution can reduce transportation interferences during large-scale construction works.

With 25,000 tons, 144 meters in length, and a counterweight of 1,750 tons, China rotates an entire bridge in 80 minutes with millimeter precision monitored by satellite.

A bridge of thousands of tons was moved in a rare engineering operation, with controlled rotation, satellite monitoring, and sufficient precision to align the structure over an operational railway area.

Bridge rotation with millimetric precision

1,750-ton Counterweight Helped Control the Structure

Monitoring with BeiDou on the Swing Bridge

Lingnan Road should integrate areas of Foshan

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With 25,000 tons, 144 meters in length, and a counterweight of 1,750 tons, China rotates an entire bridge in 80 minutes with millimeter precision monitored by satellite.

A bridge of thousands of tons was moved in a rare engineering operation, with controlled rotation, satellite monitoring, and sufficient precision to align the structure over an operational railway area.

Bridge rotation with millimetric precision

1,750-ton Counterweight Helped Control the Structure

Monitoring with BeiDou on the Swing Bridge

Lingnan Road should integrate areas of Foshan

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