The main deck of the Yanji Yangtze River Bridge, the world's longest-span four-main-cable suspension bridge, was successfully joined together in Central China's Hubei province. Qingdao Special Steel, a subsidiary of CITIC Pacific Special Steel, contributed to this engineering marvel by supplying self-developed 2,100 MPa ultra-high-performance galvanized steel cable wires.

To address the challenge posed by the bridge's innovative four-main-cable design, which required exceptional strength, corrosion resistance, and fatigue performance from the wires, Qingdao Special Steel developed wires with superior toughness and durability under extreme stress. This achievement paved the way for construction on the bridge's record 1,860-meter main span.

The bridge's four main cables comprise of tens of thousands of high-performance steel wires, including Qingdao Special Steel's 2,100 MPa cable wires. A single main cable boasts an ultimate tensile capacity of approximately 70,000 tonnes, with the combined strength of all four exceeding 280,000 tonnes — powerful enough to lift over a hundred A380 aircrafts or six medium-sized aircraft carriers simultaneously.

The successful use of Qingdao Special Steel's 2,100 MPa cables demonstrates that China's suspension bridge cable technology is at the global forefront. This achievement lays a strong foundation for future cross-sea projects with even longer spans and more challenging environmental conditions.