Stretching 798 meters over a river valley, Lvzhijiang Bridge’s mere length may not sound all that extreme when compared to some of the world’s longest bridges. But the complexity of the project is earning it recognition as an engineering marvel.
The bridge hangs above Lvzhijiang (literally translated as “Green Juice River”) and protrudes from tunnels that emerge from steep mountain faces on each side of the valley.
Longest single-tower, single-span suspension bridge
Lvzhijiang Bridge is a single-tower, single-span suspension bridge.
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Officials claim the bridge breaks several world records.
The bridge’s single span — the distance between two supports — is 780 meters. In addition, officials say it has the world’s steepest tunnel anchorage, which is angled at 54 degrees.
Due to the area’s rugged landscape, all of the main supporting elements — the 156-meter-high tower, the bridge approach slab on one end of the structure and the tunnel anchorage on the other end of the structure — are built upon steep slopes.
The bridge links neighboring Yuxi City and Yunnan’s Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture and will dramatically shorten the journey time.
The maximum speed limit on the bridge is 100 kilometers per hour.
With construction commencing in 2019, the project took about three years to complete. It’s expected to open to traffic by late April 2022.
Connecting Yunnan to the rest of China
When complete, Lvzhijiang Bridge shorterns the journey between the two sides of the river from 1.5 hours to two minutes.
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The Yuchu Expressway links Yunnan with other major national expressways, such as the Hangzhou-Ruili (a western Yunnan city bordering Myanmar) Expressway and the Guangzhou-Kunming Expressway.
Top image credit: Yao Sichao/VCG via Getty Images