Aizhai Bridge

Top

Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia

Aizhai Bridge 矮寨大桥
Aizhai Bridge under construction in August 2011
Carries	6 lanes of G65 Baotou–Maoming Expressway
Crosses	Dehang Grand Canyon (德夯大峡谷)
Locale	Jishou
Design	Suspension bridge
Width	24.5 m (80 ft)^[1]
Longest span	1,146 m (3,760 ft)
Vertical clearance	350 m (1,150 ft)
Construction begin	October 2007
Construction end	December 2011
Opened	31 March 2012
Coordinates	28°19′52″N 109°35′51″E / 28.331°N 109.5974°E / 28.331; 109.5974Coordinates: 28°19′52″N 109°35′51″E / 28.331°N 109.5974°E / 28.331; 109.5974

The Aizhai Bridge (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]

With a main span of 1,146 metres (3,760 ft) and a deck height of 350 metres (1,150 ft),^[3] it is the sixth-highest bridge in the world and the world's twelfth-longest suspension bridge. Of the world's 400 or so highest bridges, none has a main span as long as Aizhai.^[4] It is also the world's highest and longest tunnel-to-tunnel bridge.^[5] The bridge contains 1888 lights to increase visibility at night. ^[6]

Construction on the Aizhai Bridge began in October 2007 and was completed by the end of 2011, ahead of schedule.^[7]^[8] The bridge was temporarily opened to pedestrians during the 2012 Spring Festival^[8] and was formally opened to traffic in March 2012.^[9]

The bridge was built with the assistance of a $208 million loan from the Asian Development Bank; the loan also funded 64 kilometres (40 mi) of expressway construction and upgrades to 129 kilometres (80 mi) of local roads.^[10] The bridge and the associated road construction reduced the travel time between Jishou and Chadong from 4 hours to less than 1 hour.^[10]