China is home to the longest and second-longest bridges in the world, demonstrating the incredible technological achievements that have been accomplished in this country. The development of these remarkable structures contributes to China's global status in infrastructure construction.
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China's Largest and Second Largest Bridge in the World
Aside from being the longest bridge globally, the Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge in China is also regarded as the second-longest. It is a component of the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway, which connects Shanghai and Nanjing. In addition to traversing rice terraces, lakes, rivers, and even cities, this remarkable engineering work extends for 164.8 kilometers or 102.4 miles.
The bridge, which runs parallel to the Yangtze River from its mouth in Shanghai, has an average height of 100 meters or 328 feet. However, certain bridge sections have a 150-meter or 492-foot clearance to enable ships to pass beneath them.
Certain sections of the structure qualify as both a viaduct and a cable-stayed bridge because of its length and the variations in terrain beneath it. In contrast to cable-stayed bridges, supported by diagonal, tension-straight cables extending from towers above the bridge, viaducts are defined as bridges supported by a series of arches or towers beneath the bridge.
Moreover, the Langfang-Qingxian viaduct, a sub-section of the Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge, features 114 kilometers (70.8 miles), making it the second-longest bridge in the world. In 2011, the construction of the Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge was finished, which significantly improved the quality of railway travel in the region. When traveling by train, the trip from Nigbo to Jiaxing used to take four hours and thirty minutes, but now it can be accomplished in just two hours.
Accordingly, there was a total cost of $8.5 billion for the bridge's construction, which was an enormous endeavor. Considering this, the average price per kilometer is $51 million. Around 11,500 concrete pillars uphold the bridge, which is made up of a massive quantity of steel weighing hundreds of thousands of tons. In addition, Suzhou's bridge that spans Yangcheng Lake is supported by 2,000 pillars in just one bridge segment.
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Construction of the World's Largest Bridge
Commencing construction in 2006, the Danyang Kunshan Grand Bridge was ultimately finished and formally inaugurated on June 20, 2011. The bridge spans roughly 80 meters at its tallest point, and it was constructed using around 450,000 tons of steel. The distance between Ningbo and Jiaxing was 4.5 hours before the bridge's construction, owing to the presence of lakes and rivers along the route.
Furthermore, due to the numerous bridges located throughout the whole length of the railway, it is now feasible to travel between Beijing and Shanghai in just four hours and forty-eight minutes, a distance of more than one thousand kilometers.
On the other hand, aside from being resistant to earthquakes, the Danyang Kunshan Grand Bridge can also handle collisions that may occur from ships that pass below it daily. Additionally, the bridge is being constructed to the highest anti-seismic standards. Based on the calculations, it was determined that the towers holding the bridge ought to be able to endure the impact of a navy vessel weighing up to 300,000 tons.
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