New Bridge Over Yangtze Opens to Traffic

HEFEI, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- A new rail-road bridge over the Yangtze River opened to traffic Tuesday in the city of Wuhu, east China's Anhui Province.

With a span of 588 meters between the two main towers, the double-deck cable-stayed bridge has eight lanes for vehicular traffic on the upper deck and four rail tracks on the lower level.

Two of the tracks have been designed for the Shangqiu-Hefei-Hangzhou high-speed railway, which started operations on June 28 this year. The other two tracks are reserved for rail transit lines.

"There is an airport near the bridge, therefore we had to keep the height of the towers within certain limits. The height of the tower above the bridge is only half that of a normal cable-stayed bridge, a great challenge for us during construction," said Liu Xingfu, the project manager.

The new bridge is expected to ease traffic pressure and promote the regional integration of the Yangtze River Delta, local authorities said.