Wan'an Second-Line Ship Lock Completed: Intelligent Steel Processing Equipment Powers Construction

Recently, the Wan’an Junction Second-Line Ship Lock, a landmark water transport hub project in Jiangxi Province, has become a benchmark for inland ship lock construction in China thanks to its super high-head design and advanced intelligent construction solutions. The ship lock features a maximum designed working head of 32.5 meters, ranking the 8th highest-head single-stage ship lock worldwide and the 4th in China. With the tallest lock wall in Jiangxi Province, it is widely known as “The First Lock on the Thousand-Li Ganjiang River”.

To guarantee construction safety, processing quality and production efficiency, an intelligent steel processing and distribution center was built on the project site. Three professional production lines were deployed for reinforcing cage fabrication, steel bar mechanical threading, steel bar bending and stirrup bending respectively. Equipped with 2 overhead cranes and 1 cover beam & slab welding robot, the center formed a full-process automatic steel processing system, which comprehensively ensured the safety, quality and efficiency of steel reinforcement work.

The reinforcing cage rolling welding machine played a vital role in the production of steel components for pile foundations and lock structures. The equipment can automatically complete all working procedures, including main bar feeding, stiffening ring welding and spiral winding. Only two construction workers are required to operate the whole machine to produce qualified reinforcing cages efficiently. It effectively cuts down labor demand and reduces working intensity, while ensuring the dimensional accuracy and welding strength of cages fully comply with strict specifications for large-scale water transport hub projects.

Supported by the stable operation of complete sets of intelligent steel processing equipment, the Wan’an Junction Second-Line Ship Lock has successfully finished all steel prefabrication and on-site construction works. This project fully proves the practical value of automatic steel processing machinery in large water conservancy and waterway engineering. It also sets a replicable intelligent construction model for domestic super high-head ship locks and large hydraulic hub projects of the same type.