Aizhai Bridge

Aizhai Bridge
矮寨大桥

Aizhai Bridge under construction in August 2011
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
Carries 4 lanes of G65 Baotou–Maoming Expressway
Crosses Dehang Grand Canyon (德夯大峡谷)
Locale Jishou
Characteristics
Design Suspension bridge
Total length 1,534 m (5,033 ft)
Width 24.5 m (80 ft)[1]
Longest span 1,176 m (3,858 ft)[1]
Clearance below 336 m (1,102 ft)
History
Construction start October 2007
Construction end December 2011
Opened 31 March 2012
Aizhai Bridge
Location in Hunan

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]

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 seventh-highest bridge in the world and the world's fifteenth-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. 1 2 湘西：矮寨大桥主体工程即将完工
  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". Chishi, China: New York Times. 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
  5. ↑ Sakowski, Eric Sakowski (2009). "Aizhai Bridge from highestbridges.com". http://highestbridges.com/. Retrieved 9 March 2012. External link in |publisher= (help)
  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）
  9. 1 2 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. 1 2 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, retrieved 10 August 2014
  13. ↑ 17 Sep 2012 (2012-09-17). "Video: Daredevils take part in Chinese base jumping festival". Telegraph. 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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