Engineer turns difficult terrain into benchmarks

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Braving towering mountains and deep valleys in Guizhou province, Guo Jiping has spent nearly two decades venturing into these harsh landscapes, growing alongside the bridges he builds.

Guo, a senior engineer at Guizhou Communications Investment Group, has participated in the construction of several of the world's top 100 highest bridges, including the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge, the world's highest.

In 2007, Guo graduated from Central South University with a degree in bridge and tunnel engineering. Driven by a desire to serve the country, he headed to Guizhou — a region of daunting mountains and deep valleys where building bridges was extremely difficult, yet it was here that his dream took flight.

His first battlefield was the construction of the world-renowned Beipanjiang Bridge. Serving as assistant chief engineer on the project, he immersed himself in front-line construction, helping draft the construction plan and tackle the cable hoisting scheme, then among the most advanced of its kind in China.

High above the cliffs, Guo traversed swaying catwalks over the abyss, conducting precise surveys in all weather conditions. This grueling work honed his expertise in suspension bridge construction. The project's success also advanced traditional cable hoisting technology and set a precedent for future kilometer-scale bridges.

Since then, Guo has tackled Guizhou's most treacherous terrain. As a veteran technical expert, he has consistently turned engineering challenges into industry benchmarks. His pioneering work includes hollow-section concrete rigid-frame techniques for the Beipanjiang Bridge, an inverted triangular climbing formwork method for the Mupeng Bridge — filling a technological gap in the province — and intelligent temperature-control systems for the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge.

His research into key construction technologies for long-span mountain bridges established a robust technical system for complex environments through breakthroughs in cable-stayed tower optimization and intelligent cable hoisting.

"Technological innovation on the front lines is never about armchair theory or shelving ideas," Guo said. "It is about confronting real engineering challenges head-on. The value of research lies in refining the intuitive know-how gained from field experience into a systematic and replicable knowledge base, one that ultimately delivers tangible engineering and economic benefits."

The inverted triangular climbing formwork method for the Mupeng Bridge is a case in point. At the time, conventional equipment could not accommodate the arch bridge's unusual geometry, and the construction schedule was tight. Guo and his team spent 122 days working between the site and their drawing boards. They produced more than 2,000 blueprints and calculation sheets, which, when stacked, stood higher than their desks, and revised the plan 17 times. The relentless pace took its toll. Guo developed a ganglion cyst on his right wrist after spending long hours drafting, leaving a faint scar after surgery. "That's my personal souvenir from the bridge," he said.

Guo's dedication paid off. The custom-built formwork system not only ensured that the Mupeng Bridge was completed efficiently, safely and to a high standard, but also led to the granting of key patents. Today, focusing on the cantilever-cast arch technique, his team has filed more than 70 patents, 56 of which have been granted. Several of the technologies have been adopted nationwide, turning innovation into tangible economic returns.

"For contractors, research begins and ends on-site," Guo said. "You have to dig into the trenches, understand every single procedure and detail to spot the real issues and deliver innovations that actually work."

Over the past 18 years, Guo has been granted 208 Chinese patents, authored 21 provincial and ministerial-level construction method standards, and led or contributed to numerous major research projects. He has also received several honors, including the National May 1 Labor Medal and the title of 2025 Great Country Craftsman of the Year.