Infrastructure is one of the foundations for the economic development of any nation, while roads and bridges are among the most important infrastructure. Below are some bridges constructed in recent decades in China.
Beipanjiang Bridge, the world’s tallest bridge that links two mountainous provinces – Guizhou and Yunnan – in southern China.
A bridge in Xianju, Zhejiang Province in east China.
Xianju (仙居) in Chinese means land of immortals …….
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World’s largest cross-sea bridge linking 3 Chinese cities (Zhuhai, Macao and Hong Kong) was completed in late February.
The major section of the bridge provides a dual three-lane expressway to handle traffic up to the speed of 100 km/h.
The bridge consists of 6.7 kilometre-tunnel with 48 meters under the water, making it the longest and deepest underwater tunnel in the world.
The tunnel, measuring 2741 metres in total length, is comprised of 33 pipe-shaped sections linked by one 6,500-metric-ton butt joint in the middle. Each pipe weighs about 80,000 tons.
The construction of the bridge overcame some most complex challenges ever confronted engineers in history in terms of geological and topographical conditions. The Y-shaped span, linking Zhuhai, Macao and Hong Kong, enables the structures to withstand a magnitude 8 earthquake, a super typhoon or a strike by a cargo vessel weighing 300,000 tons.
The bridge cuts travel time between Zhuhai and Hong Kong from three hours to 30 minutes.
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A long bridge in Hubei Province, land by the Yangtze River with numerous streams and lakes
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A night scene of China’s first cable-stayed bridge with double-tower and double-cable-plane, built in 2011.
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A suspension bridge connects a hilltop and a cave in a cliff face in Daoist Mountain Yandang, Zhejiang Province.
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A suspension glass bridge between two cliffs in Zhangjiajie in Hunan Province.
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This bridge over a 150m deep canyon in China’s mountainous southwest region is scheduled to open for traffic by the end of 2019, by then the travel time from one side of the canyon to another can be reduced from 2 hours to just 5 minutes.
The regions in China’s southwest is historically underdeveloped economically and culturally due to, in large part, the isolation of the location. The rapid progress in infrastructure would certainly help the trade and communication between the people.
The canyon bridge in construction |
This is how China build elevated railways and bridges. Chinese did not invent the technology but have improved it, and China’s SLJ900-mobile bridge-building machine costs 5 million RMB less to manufacture than the overseas’ models.