China is integrating drones, digital twins and artificial intelligence into highway operations to improve road safety, maintenance and monitoring. The Guandu Yellow River Bridge in central China’s Henan Province demonstrates how these technologies are being used to make transport infrastructure more efficient.
Opened in October 2019, the 8-lane bridge faced growing demands for maintenance and safety management. To address blind spots, slow responses and inefficiencies in traditional inspection methods, its operator introduced a smart operations system covering the entire maintenance process.
In March 2025, the operator established a dedicated drone inspection unit equipped with 2 types of drones. Multi-rotor drones conduct detailed inspections of bridge surfaces, verify hazards and create 3D models. Fixed-wing drones can cover a 35-kilometre radius in a single flight, supporting long-distance highway patrols.
Working with road administration teams and maintenance crews, the drones form an “air patrol plus ground watch” system designed to provide all-weather monitoring across the area.
The bridge also uses a digital twin that replicates its deck, guardrails, piers and other facilities in a virtual environment. Radar-vision devices detect illegal parking, intrusions and infrastructure abnormalities, including during night-time and foggy conditions. When a risk is identified, alerts are linked to the 3D model and mapped to precise locations, replacing estimates based on mile markers.
The project reflects Henan’s broader efforts to modernise highway maintenance through rapid road-condition detection equipment and smart platforms.
Shan Fei, general manager of Henan Transportation Development Research Institute Co., Ltd., said the province has completed digital data collection and 3D modelling for 31,000 kilometres of trunk highways. The process combines positioning data from China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) with laser point-cloud mapping.
The resulting database covers 127 asset types, including roadbeds, pavements, bridges, tunnels and traffic safety facilities. Shan described it as China’s largest provincial-level digital foundation for highway assets.
“From a single milestone or bollard to a kilometer-long bridge or tunnel, every element is now under digital management,” Shan said.
China is expanding these technologies across its wider transport network. Transport Minister Liu Wei said more than 7,800 kilometres of expressways have undergone digital and intelligent upgrades. The country has also built 60 automated terminals, while about 27 million pieces of transport equipment now use the BDS.
According to the Ministry of Transport, 696 long-span bridges crossing rivers, seas and gorges were included in a 3-level monitoring network in 2025. The system connects national, provincial and individual bridge monitoring systems, allowing basic data, alerts and monitoring information to be shared instantly.
Policy initiatives are supporting further adoption. In September 2025, 7 government departments, including the Ministry of Transport, issued guidelines outlining a roadmap for applying AI to transportation.
In 2026, authorities launched an action plan to develop pilot applications in intelligent driving, smart highways, intelligent supervision and smart shipping. The initiative aims to introduce more than 100 pilot projects and bring together over 1,000 innovators.
“AI plus transportation has become the new central thread in boosting China’s strength in transport,” said Wang Yunpeng, chairman of the China Intelligent Transportation Systems Association. He said a modern, integrated and multi-modal transport network is advancing towards digitalisation, intelligence and green development.
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