China building new bridge over Yangtze River

Construction of a new rail-road bridge over the Yangtze River, China's longest, started Wednesday in Ma'anshan City, east China's Anhui Province.

"There will be three towers to hold the double-deck cable-stayed bridge, with the main tower 345 meters high in the middle, about the height of a 115-story building," said Liu Ailin, chief engineer of China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group Co., Ltd., the project contractor of the bridge.

Each of the two main spans is designed to be 1,120 meters long, allowing enough space for water flow and traffic, according to Liu.

The bridge will have a six-lane expressway on the upper deck and four rail tracks on the lower level after completion in 2026.

As a key project of the Chaohu-Ma'anshan high-speed railway, the bridge will cut the travel time between Ma'anshan and Hefei, capital of Anhui, and further promote the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta region, which includes Shanghai and the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui. Enditem