Hangzhou Bay Bridge (simplified Chinese: 杭州湾大桥; traditional Chinese: 杭州灣大橋; pinyin: Hángzhōu Wān Dàqiáo), 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,[1] 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.
Construction of this bridge started on June 8, 2003.World's longest oversea bridge. The bridge itself is 35.673 kilometres (22 mi) long with six expressway lanes in two directions, making it the second-longest bridge in the world after the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in Louisiana, USA. The bridge has two main spans, with a 448-metre (1,470 ft) northern span, and a 318-metre (1,043 ft) southern span.[3] The designated speed is 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph), 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 50 millimetres (2.0 in) epoxy asphalt concrete. The bridge is shaped in an 's', so that the annual silver dragon is minimully 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.
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