Getting Connected

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge on December 27, 2017
An artificial island near the recently completed Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge
Construction underway on the Hutong Yangtze River Bridge on December 8, 2017. The bridge will connect Shanghai with Nantong in east China’s Jiangsu Province. Its main span, reaching 1,092 meters, is the longest of all cable-stayed road-rail bridges in the world
The Beipanjiang Bridge, which opened on December 29, 2016, links southwest China's Guizhou and Yunnan provinces. At 565 meters above the river below, it is the highest bridge in the world
A floating crane lifts a steel truss girder during construction of the Pingtan Bridge in southeast China's Fujian Province, on January 22. It is China's first, and the world’s longest, cross-strait road-rail bridge

Super bridges are a testament to China's growing technological prowess. In early February, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, the world's longest sea-crossing structure, passed official evaluations after tests showed that it was in compliance with industry regulations and standards.

After more than eight years of construction, the 55-km-long structure, consisting of a main bridge, a tunnel and an artificial island, is now one step closer to opening. It will cut the travel time between Hong Kong and Zhuhai on the Chinese mainland from three hours to 30 minutes, promoting the integration of cities in the Pearl River Delta.

There are more than 800,000 road bridges in China, and the total length of its high-speed railway bridges has exceeded 10,000 km, according to the Ministry of Transport. Many of them are among the world's longest and highest.

(Photos by Xinhua News Agency)

Copyedited by Laurence Coulton

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