Aizhai Bridge

The Aizhai Bridge (Chinese: 矮寨大桥) is a suspension bridge on the G65 Baotou–Maoming Expressway near Jishou, Hunan, China. The bridge was built as part of an expressway from southwest China's Chongqing Municipality to Changsha.[2]

Aizhai Bridge

矮寨大桥
Aizhai Bridge under construction in August 2011
Coordinates28.331°N 109.5974°E / 28.331; 109.5974
Carries4 lanes of G65 Baotou–Maoming Expressway
CrossesDehang Grand Canyon (德夯大峡谷)
LocaleJishou
Characteristics
DesignSuspension bridge
Total length1,534 m (5,033 ft)
Width24.5 m (80 ft)[1]
Longest span1,176 m (3,858 ft)[1]
Clearance below336 m (1,102 ft)
History
Construction startOctober 2007
Construction endDecember 2011
Opened31 March 2012
Location

The bridge is famous for the spectacular view it offers those crossing it.[3]

With a main span of 1,146 metres (3,760 ft) and a deck height of 336 metres (1,102 ft),[4] as of 2013, it is the thirteenth-highest bridge in the world and the world's nineteenth-longest suspension bridge. Of the world's 400 or so highest bridges, none has a main span as long as Aizhai.[5] It is also the world's highest and longest tunnel-to-tunnel bridge.[6] The bridge contains 1888 lights to increase visibility at night.[7]

Construction on the Aizhai Bridge began in October 2007 and was completed by the end of 2011, ahead of schedule.[8][9] The bridge was temporarily opened to pedestrians during the 2012 Spring Festival[9] and was formally opened to traffic in March 2012.[10]

The bridge was built with the assistance of a $208 million loan from the Asian Development Bank; the total project cost was $610 million, which included 64 kilometres (40 mi) of expressway construction (two thirds of which comprised bridge and tunnel) and upgrades to 129 kilometres (80 mi) of local roads.[11] The bridge and the associated road construction were projected to reduce the travel time between Jishou and Chadong from 4 hours to less than 1 hour.[11][12]

In September 2012, the Aizhai Bridge was the site of an international BASE jumping festival that included more than 40 jumpers from 13 countries.[13][14][15]

See also

References
  1. "湘西：矮寨大桥主体工程即将完工". Archived from the original on 2015-06-14. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
  2. The bridge that suspends belief | Photo Gallery - Yahoo! News
  3. Chris Buckley (2017-06-10). "China's New Bridges: Rising High, but Buried in Debt China has built hundreds of dazzling new bridges, including the longest and highest, but many have fostered debt and corruption". The New York Times. Chishi, China. p. A6. Archived from the original on 2017-06-10. On the Aizhai Bridge, drivers shoot out of a tunnel to cross a 1,165-foot-deep gorge and then whiz straight into another tunnel.
  4. "Hunan Government". Archived from the original on 2013-07-07. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
  5. Sakowski, Eric Sakowski (2009). "Aizhai Bridge from highestbridges.com". highestbridges.com/. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  6. "China (News), Road transport (News), World news". The Guardian. London. 2 April 2012.
  7. "China opens record-breaking bridge over canyon". The Daily Telegraph. London. 30 March 2012.
  8. "吉首矮寨悬索大桥达到通车标准（组图）". Archived from the original on 2012-02-11. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
  9. 湖南：矮寨大桥竣工成为湘西一景 春节开放每天万人参观（图）_中国公路网
  10. 湖南：吉茶高速矮寨大桥3月通车_中国公路网
  11. http://www.adb.org/Documents/RRPs/PRC/37494-PRC-RRP.pdf
  12. Yinbo Liu (May 2013), The Construction of a 1,176 Meter Long Aizhai Suspension Bridge (PDF), 26th ICTPA Annual Meeting, Tampa, FL, archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-08-10, retrieved 10 August 2014
  13. "Video: Daredevils take part in Chinese base jumping festival". Telegraph. 2012-09-17. Retrieved 2013-06-04.
  14. "2012 Aizhai Bridge International BASE Jump Festival takes fl". YouTube. 2012-09-17. Retrieved 2013-06-04.
  15. "Aizhai Bridge Jumping Festival, Aizhai China". Suz Graham. 2012-10-11. Retrieved 2013-06-04.
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