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Hangzhou Bay Bridge

Hangzhou Bay Bridge is a bridge with cable-stayed bridge portion across Hangzhou Bay off the eastern coast of China. It was linked up on June 14, 2007, and connects the municipalities of Shanghai and Ningbo in Zhejiang province. The bridge is the longest trans-oceanic bridge in the world, although it does not have the longest cable-stayed main span. The opening ceremony was held on June 26, 2007 with great domestic media publicity, though after the opening ceremony, the bridge would only be used for test and evaluation purposes. It was opened to the public on May 1, 2008.

Description

Construction of this bridge started on June 8, 2003. The bridge itself is long with six expressway lanes in two directions. The bridge has two main spans, with a northern span, and a southern span. The designated speed is , and the designed longevity is more than 100 years. The total investment on the bridge was RMB 11.8 billion (US$ 1.4 billion as of December 2004). 35% of this amount was raised from private companies in Ningbo, 59% was provided as loans from China's central and regional banks. Orthotropic steel deck is used on its main spans and five ramp bridges, and was paved with epoxy asphalt concrete. The bridge is shaped in an 'S', presumably so that the annual Silver Dragon (a particularly strong tidal wave ) is minimally affected. The length of the bridge is decorated with flashing lights of different colors to distract from drowsiness, and keep attention on the road instead. This is also the real reason for 'S' shape.

History

The bridge underwent various feasibility studies for a decade before it was finally approved in 2003. The original plan was for the northern end of the bridge to start at Jinshan, a suburb of Shanghai. After objections were raised by the Shanghai Municipal Government, however, it was shifted south to the territory of Zhejiang province. The Hangzhou Bay Bridge connects Cixi City, west of Ningbo, to Jiaxing. Whereas previously the trip from Ningbo to Shanghai and southern Jiangsu involved a detour of around , the bridge reduces that distance to , a reduction of . The result is that Ningbo, with its port at Beilun, will be able to compete with Shanghai's port Pudong for international sea freight.

Service centre

There will be a service centre on this expressway. Mid-way through the bridge, a service island will be built for cars to turn off the road for rest, food, hotel, top of the line conference room, a lookout tower shaped like a ball and a wide-range of services. The island is actually a platform resting on piers, thus it will not impede the normal sea current in the Bay.