Qingdao Bridge Sets World Record
Source: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn
#bridge #china #qingdao #record
As reported by chinadaily.com, the world's longest cross-sea bridge, spanning Jiaozhou Bay of Qingdao in East China's Shandong province, opened to traffic last week.
The 41.58 kilometer, eight-lane Qingdao Jiaozhou Bay bridge, connecting the urban district of the city to its Huangdao district, cost US$ 2.3 billion. Construction started in May 2007. The bridge will shorten the route between the two centers by 30 kilometer, cutting travel time from more than 40 minutes to about 20 minutes.
The bridge was built in four years, with several world records and national prizes achieved. Before that, it took more than 17 years for the authorities and experts to finish the exploration, planning, design and bidding for the project.
According to telegraph.co.uk, the bridge is supported by more than 5,200 columns and was designed by the Shandong Gausu Group. The bridge is expected to carry over 30,000 cars a day. A staggering 450,000 tons of steel was used in its construction - enough for almost 65 Eiffel Towers - and 2.3 million cubic meters of concrete, equivalent to filling 3,800 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Chinese officials said that the bridge will be strong enough to withstand a magnitude 8 earthquake, typhoons or the impact of a 300,000 tonne vessel.
Previously, the longest cross-sea bridge in the world was the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway built in Louisiana back in the 1950s.
China is already home to seven of the world's 10 longest bridges, including the world's lengthiest, the 163 kilometer Danyang-Kunshan rail bridge, which runs over land and water near Shanghai. And with Beijing pumping billions into boosting China's infrastructure, the Qingdao Bridge will not be the world's longest sea bridge for very long. In December 2009, work started on a 49.6 kilometer bridge that will link Zhuhai in southern Guangdong Province, China's manufacturing heartland, with the financial centre of Hong Kong. The project is expected to be completed in 2016.
The 41.58 kilometer, eight-lane Qingdao Jiaozhou Bay bridge, connecting the urban district of the city to its Huangdao district, cost US$ 2.3 billion. Construction started in May 2007. The bridge will shorten the route between the two centers by 30 kilometer, cutting travel time from more than 40 minutes to about 20 minutes.
The bridge was built in four years, with several world records and national prizes achieved. Before that, it took more than 17 years for the authorities and experts to finish the exploration, planning, design and bidding for the project.
According to telegraph.co.uk, the bridge is supported by more than 5,200 columns and was designed by the Shandong Gausu Group. The bridge is expected to carry over 30,000 cars a day. A staggering 450,000 tons of steel was used in its construction - enough for almost 65 Eiffel Towers - and 2.3 million cubic meters of concrete, equivalent to filling 3,800 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Chinese officials said that the bridge will be strong enough to withstand a magnitude 8 earthquake, typhoons or the impact of a 300,000 tonne vessel.
Previously, the longest cross-sea bridge in the world was the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway built in Louisiana back in the 1950s.
China is already home to seven of the world's 10 longest bridges, including the world's lengthiest, the 163 kilometer Danyang-Kunshan rail bridge, which runs over land and water near Shanghai. And with Beijing pumping billions into boosting China's infrastructure, the Qingdao Bridge will not be the world's longest sea bridge for very long. In December 2009, work started on a 49.6 kilometer bridge that will link Zhuhai in southern Guangdong Province, China's manufacturing heartland, with the financial centre of Hong Kong. The project is expected to be completed in 2016.
