China opens world’s longest cable-stayed bridge across the Yangtze River
China has officially opened the world’s longest cable-stayed bridge, located in Jiangsu Province in eastern China, connecting the cities of Changzhou and Taizhou, reports a Kazinform News Agency correspondent.
The new structure, named the Changtai Yangtze River Bridge, reduces travel time across the Yangtze from more than an hour to just 20 minutes.
Stretching 10.3 kilometers, the bridge features a main span of 1,208 meters and is the first on the Yangtze to integrate three transport routes — an expressway, a local road, and an intercity railway — in a single structure. Construction lasted six years and has set multiple world records.
According to China Communications Construction, the project team “achieved the fastest sinking speed for large caissons in silty clay layers, developed the world’s first intelligent tower crane with a lifting capacity exceeding 10,000 tonne-meters, and advanced industrialized construction of steel-concrete composite pylons.” The company also stated that the team designed “the world’s largest-tonnage deck crane, enabling millimeter-level precision in placing ultra-heavy segments.”
The bridge’s towers rise 350 meters — comparable to a 120-story building — and are diamond-shaped, made of steel and concrete for stability and flexibility to withstand temperature changes. Li Zhen, chief engineer at the Jiangsu transport department, told SCMP that the foundations were “reinforced for extra strength to resist the powerful currents of the Yangtze.”
The Changtai Bridge is not only the world’s longest-span cable-stayed bridge but also holds records as the longest-span combined road-rail steel truss arch bridge and the longest continuous system of steel truss girders.
Officials say the new link will significantly enhance connectivity and economic activity in the Yangtze River Delta, one of China’s most dynamic regions. The Yangtze River, Asia’s longest and the world’s third-longest, runs 6,300 kilometers from the Tibetan Plateau to the East China Sea near Shanghai, flowing entirely within China.
Earlier, it was reported that that thousands of people marched in Messina to protest against Italy’s plan to construct the world’s longest suspension bridge across the Strait of Messina.