The sections of the first four-track China-Laos Railway bridge with ultrahigh piers was connected up on Tuesday in the southwest China city of Yuxi, Yunnan Province.

The bridge is built over the Nanxi River in the Yuanjiang Hani, Yi and Dai Autonomous County. It is 920.3 meters long, with the highest pier being 129 meters high, ranging the highest four-track railway bridges in China.

As a major control project, the bridge is of great importance to the China-Laos Railway.

"Nanxihe bridge is the first four-track railway bridge with ultrahigh piers in China, which sets a precedent. We adopted a serious of advanced construction methods, including double-columns rigid-frame pier and long span continuous steel structure," said Huang Desheng, manager of the project.

In order to ensure the smooth progress of the project and successful connection of the sections, the construction unit strengthened the on-site internal control management and solved the difficult problems before the closure.

"A total of 25,000 builders work on the construction sites every day to ensure the steady and efficient progress of various tasks. To date, the construction of the section from Yuxi City to Mohan City in Yunnan Province (the domestic section) of the China-Laos Railway has spent 7.565 billion yuan this year. 75.65 percent of the annual plan has been achieved," said Wang Qisheng, deputy director of a construction headquarters of China Railway Kunming Group Co.,Ltd.

On the same day, another major control project of the China-Laos Railway, Xinhua Tunnel, was completed, overcoming the difficulties including complex geology and working in high-temperature. The tunnel is 15.84 kilometers long, located in Mojiang County of Pu'er City of Yunnan Province.

The 1,000 plus-kilometer China-Laos Railway is the first international railway built mainly with Chinese investment, adopted Chinese technological standards, used Chinese equipment and directly connected with China's railway network. It will cut travel time from Kunming City to Jinghong City of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in southwest China's Yunnan Province to three hours, and ensure passengers to reach Laos' capital city Vientiane in a day after it is completed and put into operation.