Progress and Engineering Practice of Standardized Design for Highway Steel Bridges in China

This paper explores the current development status and technological advancements of highway steel structure bridges in China. Steel structure bridges, with their advantages of high strength, light weight, excellent seismic performance, industrialized construction, and recyclability, are increasingly being applied in highway bridge construction. However, compared to developed countries, the proportion of steel structure bridges in China’s total highway bridges remains relatively low. This paper reviews the development history of highway steel bridges in China, from the exploratory stage in the early years of the People’s Republic, through the rapid development phase following the reform and opening-up, to the more mature standardized design stage. It highlights the successful practices of iconic projects such as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the Xiamen Xiang’an Bridge. The paper elaborates on the technical characteristics of standardized design for conventional span highway steel structure bridges in China, including innovations in design, materials, and structures, as well as the application of BIM technology and industrialized construction. It analyzes current issues and challenges, and finally, forecasts the development trends of highway steel structure bridges in China, emphasizing the crucial role of standardized design in promoting industrialized construction, providing insights and references for future construction of highway steel structure bridges in China.