The two halves of the Hangzhou Bay Bridge, the world's longest
cross-sea span, are to be linked today after more than three years
of construction.
The occasion represents a major milestone in the history of
Chinese bridge-building, an official said.
The 36-km trans-oceanic bridge, which links Ningbo's Cixi County
in the south to Jiaxing in the north, has six lanes and a designed
lifespan of 100 years. It is located in east China's Zhejiang Province.
The S-shaped, stayed-cable bridge is scheduled to have surface
pavement by the end of November and to open to traffic before the
Beijing Olympics Games, which start next
August, said Jin Jianming, deputy director of the Hangzhou Bay
Bridge's construction office.
"It is a milestone in the history of bridge-building in China,"
Jin said, adding that the project led to more than 250 innovations
and engineering breakthroughs.
The span is the largest single bridge project undertaken in
China. The 11.8 billion yuan (US$1.55 billion) bridge, which will
shorten the road journey between Ningbo, a major port city, and
Shanghai by 120 km, is expected to give a huge boost to regional
economic integration and spur development.
"The bridge will facilitate regional economic integration
between Zhejiang and Shanghai, the most prosperous regions in the
country, and in the Yangtze River Delta as a whole," said Chen
Jianjun, a research fellow with the Regional Economy and Urban
Economy Research Center at the Hangzhou-based Zhejiang
University.
Work started on the bridge in November 2003. It can accommodate
a top driving speed of 100 kph.
(China Daily June 26, 2007)
