The Qingdao Haiwan Bridge, China
The world’s longest cross Sea
Bridge has been built by China, proving once again how technology and
economics are the strongest points of its economy. The Qingdao Haiwan Bridge
measures 26.4 miles (42.6 km) and links Qingdao city in China’s eastern
Shandong province with the Huangdao district. Having an amazing architectural
importance, the Qingdao Haiwan Bridge helps cut the distance between the two
points by 30 km, a life saver in such a busy society like China’s, not to
mention the touristic attraction. The 6 lane bridge is almost three miles
longer than the previous record holder, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in
Louisiana. The major infrastructure project consisted of four years of labour
and US$ 8.6 billion spent. The money went into 450,000 tons of steel, capable
of withstanding a magnitude 8.0 earthquake. Built in the Jiaozhou river delta,
the freshly finished remarkable structure is supposed to hold the record for
only a few years, because the officials already announced they started working
on another bridge that links southern province of Guangdong with Hong Kong and
Macau.
