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Steel Empowers Technological Innovation and Future Outlook for Highway Construction

Release time:

2025-04-28

In the future, with the integration of green steel and modular construction, expressway construction will achieve a coordinated upgrade of "low carbon, high efficiency, and intelligence."

As the "main arteries" of the national transportation network, breakthroughs in highway load-bearing capacity and service life have always been deeply tied to the evolution of steel technology. Under the pressure of tens of thousands of vehicles daily and the ravages of extreme weather conditions, high-performance steel, with its exceptional load-bearing capacity and durability, has become the "foundation" that supports the smooth operation of the road network, fundamentally defining the efficiency and safety standards of modern transportation.

From bridge piers to pavement structures, steel is used throughout the core scenarios of highways. In cross-river and cross-sea bridges, weathering steel, alloyed with elements such as copper and chromium, forms a dense oxide layer that reduces corrosion by over 80%, eliminating the need for regular repainting to withstand the high-salinity environment of the ocean. The rebar used in the pavement base layer, with a yield strength exceeding 600 MPa per square millimeter, securely bonds the asphalt layer to the roadbed, effectively preventing settlement and cracking caused by prolonged vehicle traffic. The use of these specialized steels not only extends the operation and maintenance cycle of highway infrastructure but also significantly reduces overall lifecycle costs. With the development of smart transportation, steel technology is entering a new dimension of "functional integration." High-strength steel plates produced through ultrafine grain rolling technology reduce the weight of bridge main beams by 30% while improving fatigue resistance by 50%. Smart steel embedded with sensors can monitor pavement stress changes in real time, providing early warning of crack risks. Domestic steel now fully supports expressway construction, from the Q690qE bridge steel used in the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge to the Q235NHD weathering steel used in expressway guardrails. Domestically produced steel has achieved independent control over key materials, laying a solid foundation for the "Eight Vertical and Eight Horizontal" transportation network.

In the future, with the integration of green steel and modular construction, expressway construction will achieve a coordinated upgrade of "low carbon, high efficiency, and intelligence." This "self-healing steel" will not only delay aging through self-repair technology, but will also facilitate the transformation of expressways into smart road networks, continuously paving an efficient and smooth "golden channel" for economic and social development.