- China completed Chongqing East Railway Station, the largest high-speed station by area, in 38 months
- The station covers 1.2 million square meters with 29 platforms and 15 railway tracks
- It handles up to 16,000 passengers per hour and is built on a mountain using advanced tech
China has completed the construction of Chongqing East Railway Station, which is being described as the world's largest high-speed railway station by area, in just 38 months.
The station is located in Chongqing, southwest China, and is expected to become a major transport hub for high-speed trains. It covers around 1.2 million square metres and has 29 platforms and 15 railway tracks.
The station is designed to handle up to 16,000 passengers every hour during peak time. The station has a multi-level design with up to eight floors, according to Xinhua.
What makes the project even more remarkable is that the station was not built on flat land but on a mountain. Engineers first had to cut and level an entire mountain before construction could begin. According to a video on X, every slope and surface of the mountain was mapped in 3D before excavation started.
Some parts of the mountain were removed using controlled explosions, while workers spent months preparing the ground.
The engineers used advanced robots and AI technology to speed up construction work at the station. Reports said that the laser-guided screed robots were used to level concrete floors with extremely high accuracy.
Special glass installation robots were used to lift and place heavy glass panels weighing up to 800 kg. The robots helped workers install the glass more safely and accurately, while increasing installation speed three times and reducing accident risks by nearly 90 percent.
Welding robots were used that could move in different directions and 24-hour patrol robots monitored the construction site.
These four-wheel robots used technologies like LiDAR, artificial intelligence (AI) and 5G to do the work nearly three times faster than humans while reducing labour costs by around 40 percent.
The station used nearly two million cubic metres of concrete and around 366,000 tonnes of steel. Around 40,000 workers were involved in the project, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
Instead of constructing the roof high above the ground, engineers assembled the 16,500-tonne steel roof at ground level first. The entire structure was then slowly lifted and slid 57 metres upward into place using hydraulic technology.
The roof is supported by giant tree-shaped steel columns known as "Huangjue" columns. These branching structures rise about 41 metres high and were specially designed to help the station withstand earthquakes. Workers also installed stainless steel cladding at heights of nearly 57 metres on the mountain slope.
The station's platforms are each more than 400 metres long, with reports claiming some trains at the station are longer than the height of the Eiffel Tower.
The station is part of China's large high-speed railway network and connects southwest China with 14 major cities, including Chengdu, Zhangjiajie, Changsha, Wuhan, Xi'an, Kunming, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
