Yellow River Museum

This project is a demonstration key initiative designed to implement the national strategy for ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin. Characterized by its large scale and stringent construction standards, the project has a total construction period of only 365 calendar days, resulting in a highly constrained construction timeline. The architectural design features a unique “Z” -shaped irregular spatial structure, incorporating a 69-meter-long full-height steel truss and a 24-meter-long cantilevered steel truss; consequently, spatial measurement and positioning, as well as precision control during on-site assembly and welding, present significant technical challenges. The foundation pit is extensive, the groundwater conditions are abundant, and the site contains liquefiable soil layers, imposing rigorous requirements for foundation treatment, foundation pit drainage, and stability maintenance. Key technical control points of this project include crack resistance of the large-volume basement floor slab, the implementation of a high-rise formwork system, and comprehensive waterproofing measures across multiple sections. The project involves more than ten specialized disciplines, including pile foundations, main steel structures, curtain walls, metal roofing, mechanical and electrical automation systems, and landscape greening; thus, the coordination and management tasks are exceptionally demanding. Additionally, there is substantial pressure in ensuring the supply, transportation, and on-site installation of heavy-duty steel structural components.

Steel Structure Design System and Technical Standards

(1) Large‑span plus large‑cantilever connected structure: The steel structure in the central area connects the northern and southern concrete main buildings overhead to form a large‑span exhibition hall without intermediate ground‑supported columns, satisfying the spatial requirements for the large exhibition halls of the museum.

(2) Abundant thick‑plate and special‑shaped components: numerous non‑standard special‑shaped trusses, bringing great difficulties in quality control and deformation control for thick‑plate welding

Cooperative Force‑bearing of Composite Structure: The steel structure works in coordination with the concrete frame‑shear wall. The support joints are complex, with strict requirements for settlement and deformation coordination.

The roof is a green covered‑soil roof. The steel trusses have to bear large dead loads from overlying soil, and both member sections and joints are designed for heavy loads

Factory Prefabrication and On-Site Construction Technology

The core advantages of using steel structures in this project are as follows: The steel structure system features a light self-weight and superior mechanical properties, enabling the successful realization of complex spatial configurations—including a 69m two-story continuous-height steel truss, a 24m large cantilever truss, and a 45m-span floor truss—thereby fully meeting the column-free architectural requirements for the museum’s large-scale exhibition halls and seamlessly integrating the streamlined architectural appearance with the surrounding natural landscape; steel components are prefabricated in batches at the production site, with component production and transportation managed through digital coding and control systems; on-site work consists solely of assembly and welding operations, which significantly reduces on-site construction duration and aligns perfectly with the project’s overall construction timeline of 365 days, ensuring the timely delivery of this major project; the steel-pipe concrete columns and steel–concrete composite structural system exhibit high overall stiffness and excellent seismic performance; components undergo pre-assembly and calibration in the factory, ensuring strict control over fabrication precision; comprehensive welding procedure qualification and quality inspection systems are implemented on-site to guarantee the structural safety of critical sections involving large spans and cantilevers, thereby meeting the long-term operational requirements of the museum as a public building; components are fabricated and transported in modular sections, overcoming the limitations associated with transporting oversized components; after pre-assembly on-site, the components are hoisted as a complete unit, reducing the volume of high-altitude work; these processes are efficiently integrated with the installation of high-support formwork using pin-type couplers and the construction of large-volume concrete, collaboratively addressing the challenges associated with constructing high-rise spaces; steel structural materials are recyclable and reusable, while the prefabrication model at the factory reduces on-site construction waste; together with the metal roof and green roof systems, this approach aligns with the green building development objectives along the Yellow River and embodies the principles of sustainable construction.