The Runyang Yangtze River Bridge () is a large

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually someth ...

complex that crosses the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with it ...

Province,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

, downstream of

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and t ...

. The complex consists of two major bridges that link

Zhenjiang Zhenjiang, alternately romanized as Chinkiang, is a prefecture-level city in Jiangsu Province, China. It lies on the southern bank of the Yangtze River near its intersection with the Grand Canal. It is opposite Yangzhou (to its north) a ...

on the south bank of the river and

Yangzhou Yangzhou, postal romanization Yangchow, is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province (Suzhong), East China. Sitting on the north bank of the Yangtze, it borders the provincial capital Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, ...

on the north. The bridge is part of the Yangzhou–Liyang Expressway. Construction of the bridge complex began in October 2000 and was completed ahead of schedule. The bridge cost 5.8 billion Yuan (about US$700 million). The complex opened to traffic on April 30, 2005. The total length of the bridge complex is about . In between the two bridges is the island of Shiyezhou. Prior to the bridge's completion, round-the-clock ferry services operated across the river. It took about 40 minutes to reach the Zhenjiang Railway Station from Yangzhou. To this day, this nearby, round-the-clock ferry service operates across the river. The fee is approximately 15 yuan per small car, with a wait time of about 5 minutes. Cars and trucks drive directly onto the ferry boats before departure. Some locals estimate the ferries more quickly connect the city centers of Zhenjiang and Yangzhou.

South bridge

The south bridge is a

suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridges, which lack vertical ...

with a main span of . Upon its completion in 2005 it became the third longest suspension bridge span in the world and the largest in China. With the opening of the

Xihoumen Bridge The Xihoumen Bridge () is a suspension bridge on the Zhoushan Archipelago, the largest offshore island group in China. Linking Jintang and Cezi islands, the bridge, together with the 27-kilometer cable-stayed Jintang Bridge linking Jintang and ...

in 2007, it became the second longest span in China. It is now the ninth longest in the world. The towers are above water level. The two approach spans are not suspended. The main span of the bridge consists of a streamlined orthotropic

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistan ...

box girder that is in depth. The width of the deck is , accommodating 6

traffic Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic ...

lanes In road transport, a lane is part of a roadway that is designated to be used by a single line of vehicles to control and guide drivers and reduce traffic conflicts. Most public roads (highways) have at least two lanes, one for traffic in each ...

and a narrow walkway at each outside edge for maintenance. The height clearance for river navigation is about . Another planned suspension bridge across the

Qiongzhou Strait The Qiongzhou Strait, also called the is the Chinese strait that separates Guangdong's Leizhou Peninsula from the island province of Hainan. It connects the Gulf of Tonkin on its west to the South China Sea on its east. The strait is on averag ...

in China, will be larger than the south bridge, spanning between 2,000 and 2,500 metres.

North bridge

The north bridge is a

cable-stayed bridge A cable-stayed bridge has one or more ''towers'' (or ''pylons''), from which cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, normally forming a fan-like pattern ...

with a main span of with towers above water level.

References

News article from ''Peoples Daily Online''Article from construction.com
* — south bridge * — north bridge

External links

*
Runyang Yangtze River Highway Bridge
{{Crossings navbox , structure = Crossings , place =

, bridge = Runyang Bridge , bridge signs = China Expwy G4011 sign no name

, upstream = Fourth Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge , upstream signs = China Expwy G2501 sign no name

, downstream =

Taizhou Bridge The Taizhou Yangtze River Bridge is a bridge complex over the Lower Yangtze River in Jiangsu Province in eastern China. The bridge connects Taizhou on the north bank, Yangzhong on an island in the river, and Yaoqiao Village of Zhenjiang Municip ...

, downstream signs = Bridges in Jiangsu Suspension bridges in China Bridges over the Yangtze River Bridges completed in 2005 Cable-stayed bridges in China

South bridge

North bridge

See also

References

External links