Yunnan Province, southwest China - May 7, 2019 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Aerial shots of Lancang River Railway Bridge under construction
2. Aerial shot of workers working aloft
3. Workers casting concrete on bridge
4. Machine operating
5. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Ye Shaodian, manager, Lancang River Railway Bridge project, 5th Engineering Co., Ltd., China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group Co., Ltd.:
"The work on constructing the Lancang River bridge's superstructure has been in full swing as planned after the first concrete box girder was cast."

FILE: China - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
6. Animation of two arch halves connected

Yunnan Province, southwest China - May 7, 2019 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
7. Various of workers working on Lancang River Railway Bridge
8. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Ye Shaodian, manager, Lancang River Railway Bridge project, 5th Engineering Co., Ltd., China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group Co., Ltd.:
"Our next-step work will focus on constructing the the pillars over the arch. After that, we will cast the concrete box girders above the pillars. Then, the project's main structure will be completed."
9. Aerial shots of Lancang River Railway Bridge

The work on constructing the superstructure of the Lancang River Railway Bridge, one of the most complicated sections of the Dali-Ruili Railway in southwest China's Yunnan Province, got into full swing on Tuesday.

The bridge is a key project of the 330km-long Dali-Ruili railway which is a key section of the China-Myanmar international railway corridor linking Kunming, the provincial capital of Yunnan, with Yangon, the capital of Myanmar.

Workers with large equipment finished casting the first concrete box girder at Tuesday noon, marking that the superstructure's construction has been in full swing, according to Ye Shaodian, manager of the Lancang River Railway Bridge project of the 5th Engineering Co., Ltd. under the China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group Co., Ltd.

The bridge measures 528.1 meters long, with a main span of 342 meters, making it one of the longest arch bridges in China.

The mega-sized arch bridge is built in the west of the Hengduan Mountains range where geographical features are complicated. Around 30 experienced experts were invited to work out a plan for the construction.

The bridge consists of two steel truss arch halves that were connected in 2016. The two separate parts were built vertically on either side of the canyon slopes on top of scaffolding.

"Our next-step work will focus on constructing the the pillars over the arch. After that, we will cast the concrete box girders above the pillars. Then, the project's main structure will be completed," said Ye.

The Lancang River Railway Bridge project formally went into construction in May 2008 and was planned to complete by the end of 2019. Upon completion, the line will cut travel time between the two major tourist destinations from six hours by road to over two hours.