China, the world’s largest economy had made another mark in terms of engineering marvel through the inauguration of the world’s longest bridge. The Qingdao Jiaozhou Bay Bridge is a 26.4 miles span over seawater. It opens to traffic on Thursday after four years of construction.
The world’s longest bridge connects the urban district of Qingdao City and Huangdao district in the eastern province of China. The Qingdao Jiaozhou Bay Bridge which was also known as Qingdao-Haiwan Bridge is an earthquake and typhoon proof bridge. It was designed to withstand an estimated 300,000 tonnes weight impact.
The estimated cost of the project was $2.3 billion US dollars. According to Chinese authorities, the completion of the world’s longest bridge will boost the economic development in Huangdao. It will augment the planned industrial zone and to facilitate the rapid increase in foreign trade.
The bridge’s longest was put on official list in the Guinness Book of World Records breaking the previous record-holder the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Bridge found in Louisiana as the world’s longest bridge over open-water.
The Chinese bridge which was longer more than 2.5 miles compared to the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Bridge was supported by 5,000 pillars. With its opening to traffic, the bridge will cut the travel time with an estimated 20-30 minutes.
An (–foul word(s) removed–)ociated undersea tunnel was built also during the construction which was opened to public on Thursday. The 9.47-kilometer-long undersea tunnel runs parallel to the bridge.
According to estimates, the total number of steel that used during the construction was recorded at 450,000 tons. The project also cost an estimated at 81 million cubic feet of concrete, enough to fill 3,800 olympic size swimming pools.
The six-lane bridge was constructed by more than 10,000 people around the clock. It can accommodate 30,000 cars a day on a regular basis.
Here is the video of the world’s longest bridge over the sea:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DJqVfsr_Zg[/youtube]