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Victoria Bela

Scientists in China have simulated a drone attack on one of the country’s major suspension bridges to determine the vulnerability of key transport hubs to modern warfare tactics.
The researchers found that a drone carrying just 30kg (66lbs) of TNT could trigger a bridge collapse if it detonated within inches of the main suspension cable at the point where it meets a support tower.
The targeted bridge strikes that have featured in Russia’s war on Ukraine show that warfare has shifted from mass firepower to precision strikes, turning once hard-to-reach structures into prime targets, they said.
“These events starkly reveal the extreme vulnerability of modern bridges to unconventional explosive attacks,” the team wrote in a paper published in the September issue of the Chinese-language Journal of Railway Science and Engineering.
“Conducting a systematic study on the damage mechanisms and blast resistance of suspension bridges subjected to precision unmanned aerial vehicle-delivered explosive attacks holds urgent engineering significance and strategic value for national defence.”

Earth-anchored suspension bridges feature a roadway that is hung from massive cables supported by pylon towers and secured by anchorages at either end.
The researchers, from Southwest Jiaotong University and the China Railway Major Bridge Reconnaissance & Design Institute Company, simulated attacks on a suspension structure with a main span of 538 metres (1,765 feet).
The dimensions matched the Dimuhe River Bridge in southwestern China’s Guizhou province, which is frequently used in Chinese engineering papers as a simulation benchmark.
China has more bridges than any other country, including most of the world’s largest, longest and highest overpasses. Among them are more than 11,000 “super-large” or mega structures, according to transport ministry data.
Record-breaking bridges include the highest on Earth, which crosses Huajiang Canyon, also in Guizhou, as well as the Zhangjinggao Yangtze River Bridge in eastern Jiangsu province, which will be the longest suspension structure in the world when completed.
The study was prompted by the continuing Russian war on Ukraine, which in 2022 saw the Ukrainian military strike Antonovsky Bridge – the main crossing over the Dnieper River in the Kherson region – that Russia was using to transport supplies and troops.
Ukraine’s military has also launched several attacks on the Crimean Bridge, which has served as a vital part of Russian military logistics since the start of Moscow’s invasion in late February 2022.
The team noted that while early research established safety thresholds for individual bridge components, studies on complete suspension bridge systems remained limited and lagged behind modern warfare threats like drone strikes.
To find out how much damage drone blasts could have on a suspension bridge, the team created a model that included the deck, main cables, hangers and pylon towers, according to the paper.

The study focused on the potential blast impact on the bridge’s high-altitude components, specifically the main cables and support towers rather than the bridge deck, it said.
The researchers modelled a 50kg TNT blast – equivalent to the warhead payload carried by a typical medium-sized drone – at a distance of 20cm (8 inches) from key structural areas.
A blast at such close range targeting a cable near a support tower triggered a domino effect of snapping cables, flipping the deck and causing the bridge to collapse, according to the paper.
This showed that a near-field explosion of this magnitude “poses a catastrophic threat to the suspension bridge”, it said.
The team also modelled smaller explosive charges and found that even low-yield blasts could trigger a collapse if they detonated at close range, including 30-40kg of TNT if it exploded 20cm away from the main cable anchorage.
A drone armed with just 5kg TNT would also be capable of severing a main cable if it exploded on contact with the tower junction, according to the study.
The researchers noted that “precision contact capability warrants greater defensive attention than merely increasing the explosive yield”.


Because an explosion at the point where the suspension cables are anchored to the tower could trigger a chain reaction, the team identified this area as the critical vulnerability against realistic drone threats.
“Defence strategies against realistic drone threats should prioritise protecting the main cable anchorage zones and mitigate risks associated with close-range or contact threats,” the researchers wrote.
According to the paper, an increase in cable dimensions could help to mitigate blast damage, though this measure was more suited to the design of new bridges.
For existing bridges, retrofitting main cables with a high-density polythene protective sheath offered a more practical solution to reduce damage, it said.
The team also simulated extreme blasts, ranging from 300kg to 500kg of TNT – far beyond the payload capacity of a single drone – to serve as an upper-bound scenario for compound attacks.
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News

China

Chinese researchers simulate attacks on a typical suspension bridge and find a precisely targeted small strike could trigger collapse


Chinese researchers simulate attacks on a typical suspension bridge and find a precisely targeted small strike could trigger collapse.


Ukraine

Russia

Some of China’s 11,000 mega bridges could be at risk from small drones: study

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Chinese researchers simulate attacks on a typical suspension bridge and find a precisely targeted small strike could trigger collapse

Chinese researchers simulate attacks on a typical suspension bridge and find a precisely targeted small strike could trigger collapse