On June 6, the world’s tallest pile driving vessel, “Tiejian Daqiaoqi 1”, officially commenced construction in Nantong, Jiangsu Province. This milestone marks a new breakthrough in China’s offshore engineering equipment manufacturing sector. Upon delivery, the vessel will be deployed for the first time in the construction of the Salvador-Itaparica Bridge, the largest cross-sea cable-stayed bridge in Latin America. This project will continuously enhance the deep-sea operation capabilities of China Railway Construction Bridge Engineering Bureau Group.
With an overall length of 130 meters and a pile frame height of 156 meters, “Tiejian Daqiaoqi 1” is capable of driving piles with a maximum weight of 700 tons and a diameter of 7 meters, which is the highest pile frame and the largest piling capacity in the world at present.
It is the first pile driving vessel in China that has both a dynamic positioning system and three world-class performance indicators: the pile frame height reaches 156 meters (the highest in the world), the operating water depth exceeds 70 meters (the deepest in the industry), and the piling positioning accuracy is achieved at the centimeter level through the coordinated control of the dual-frequency RTK GPS and Beidou dual-mode positioning system.
It is worth mentioning that the ship has two world-first applications: the world’s first application of the “DP dynamic positioning + anchor positioning” fusion technology on a large-scale piling vessel, which significantly improves the stability and safety of operations under complex sea conditions; the first application of the main cylinder closed hydraulic system on a piling vessel, which greatly improves the efficiency of piling operations while achieving energy recovery and green environmental protection.
The official opening of “Tiejian Daqiaoqi 1” will enhance China’s competitiveness in implementing large-scale, ultra-deep and high-precision pile foundation construction in complex marine environments, and provide first-class equipment for domestic and foreign large-scale water bridges, offshore wind power, port terminal construction and deep and distant sea projects.
It is understood that the foundation of the Salvador-Itaparica Bridge in Brazil is the world’s largest deep-water pile foundation; the continuous rigid frame structure used in the approach bridge is the world’s first ultra-long, large-span, ultra-high-altitude, and large longitudinal slope integrated structure.