Recently, the Third Pingnan Bridge in Guangxi, which was designed and built under the leadership of Zheng Jilian, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a professor of Guangxi University, won the 15th "China Steel Structure Gold Award Annual Outstanding Engineering Award", achieving a breakthrough of zero in the national bridge projects. "Pingnan Third Bridge represents the highest construction level of modern concrete-filled steel tube arch bridges and even arch bridges, leads the development direction of arch bridge technology, and contributes Chinese wisdom to the progress of international bridge science and technology and the improvement of the construction level of transportation infrastructure in the world." Deng Wenzhong, academician of the American Academy of Engineering and foreign academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said. Pingnan Third Bridge, with a span of 575 meters, is known as the "world's first arch", which is the proof of the deep integration of production, learning and research in Guangxi University, and also the embodiment of the concentrated breakthrough in the design concept, construction mode, key technologies, etc. of concrete-filled steel tube arch bridge by Academician Zheng Guilian's team. The birth of the Pingnan Third Bridge has a tortuous experience. "If it were not for Academician Zheng Jilian's firm scientific assertion, 'the world's first arch' would probably pass us by." Chen Zhengyou, a member of the academician team of Zheng Jilian and a professor of the School of Civil and Architectural Engineering of Guangxi University, said. In 2017, according to the development strategy of Guangxi, the Pingnan Third Bridge of Lipu Yulin Expressway will be built across Xunjiang River. During the preliminary design, the design institute recommended the suspension bridge scheme, while the professional review unit recommended the cable-stayed bridge scheme, which is difficult to decide at the moment. As a bridge expert, "appropriate bridge type" and "saving money" are Zheng's first ideas for building arch bridges. "Both safety and quality are indispensable, and matters involving national interests and people's well-being are of paramount importance." Zheng Guilian told the reporter that in order to reduce investment, improve structural stiffness, and reduce maintenance costs and risks during the operation period, he proposed a steel tube concrete arch bridge scheme with a span of 575 meters, saving nearly 90 million yuan of investment compared with the scheme recommended by the original design unit. However, the scheme was rejected during the review. Some experts believe that the risk of building an arch bridge is too high, because the bedrock in the arch seat area on the north bank of the bridge site is covered with 18 to 22 meters of silty clay and 15 to 18 meters of pebble layer respectively. This geological condition, where one bank is solid bedrock and the other bank is pebble layer, does not meet the construction requirements of traditional arch bridges. In the face of doubt, Zheng Jilian immediately launched an argument. "Although the span of arch bridges exceeds that of all kinds of arch bridges in the world, there are certain risks, but they are completely controllable." Zheng said. He then drafted a three-and-a-half page report outline and made a special trip to the Ministry of Transport to report, elaborating and analyzing the basis for controlling the risks of the concrete-filled steel tube arch bridge project and the cost risk. Zheng Dulian, who was 76 years old at that time, took the initiative to be the leader of the bridge construction expert group, and shared the risks with all parties involved in the construction, finally promoting the adoption of the concrete filled steel tube arch bridge scheme for Pingnan Third Bridge. Every construction process of Pingnan Third Bridge is also scientific and technological. Mei Guoxiong, a member of Academician Zheng Dulian's team and a professor of the School of Civil and Architectural Engineering of Guangxi University, experienced the whole process of scientific research on the bridge. He said: "In the process of bridge construction, the team always put scientific research ahead of design and construction, and truly realized the close integration of industry, education and research." The first problem encountered in the construction of Pingnan Third Bridge is the arch foundation, which is located in the plain