Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge

The Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge (simplified Chinese: 丹昆特大桥; traditional Chinese: 丹昆特大橋; pinyin: Dān-Kūn tèdà qiáo) is a 164.8-kilometre-long (102.4 mi) viaduct on the Beijing–Shanghai High-Speed Railway.[2] It is the longest bridge in the world.[3]

Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge
Coordinates31°35′52″N 120°27′25″E / 31.597837°N 120.456848°E / 31.597837; 120.456848
CarriesRail
LocaleJiangsu
Characteristics
MaterialRCC (Reinforced Cement Concrete)
Total length164.8 kilometres (102.4 mi)
Width79 metres (260 feet) (Avg.)
Height30 metres (100 feet) (Avg.)
No. of spans2000
History
DesignerChina Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC)
Construction startca. 2006[1]
Construction end2010
Construction costUS$8.5 Billion
Opened30 June 2011
Location
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Bridge

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The bridge is located on the rail line between Shanghai and Nanjing in Jiangsu province. It is in the Yangtze River Delta, where the geography is characterized by lowland rice paddies, canals, rivers, and lakes. The bridge runs roughly parallel to the Yangtze River, about 8 to 80 km (5 to 50 mi) south of the river. It passes through the northern edges of population centers (from west to east) beginning in Danyang, Changzhou, Wuxi, Suzhou, and ending in Kunshan. There is a 9-kilometre long (5.6 mi) section over open water across Yangcheng Lake in Suzhou.[1]

Construction was completed in 2010 and the bridge opened in 2011. Employing 10,000 people, the project took four years and cost about $8.5 billion.[1] The bridge currently holds the Guinness World Record for the longest bridge in the world in any category as of June 2011.[3][4]

Designer

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The China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company designed and built the bridge. It is a Chinese government-funded company which was originally part of the Foreign Aid Office of the Ministry of Communications of China. This company leads major civil engineering projects in China like highways, railways, bridges, ports, and tunnels.[5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Muhammad Farooq (12 September 2011). "Danyang Kunshan Grand Bridge, the Longest Bridge". expertscolumn.com. Archived from the original on 18 February 2012.
  2. ^ Chris Buckley (10 June 2017). "China's New Bridges: Rising High, but Buried in Debt China has built hundreds of dazzling new bridges, including the longest and highest, but many have fostered debt and corruption". The New York Times. Hunan. p. A6. Archived from the original on 10 June 2017. China also has the world's longest bridge, the 102-mile Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge, a high-speed rail viaduct running parallel to the Yangtze River, and is nearing completion of the world's longest sea bridge, a 14-mile cable-stay bridge skimming across the Pearl River Delta, part of a 22-mile bridge and tunnel crossing that connects Hong Kong and Macau with mainland China.
  3. ^ a b Longest bridge, Guinness World Records. Last accessed July 2011.
  4. ^ Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge on OSM
  5. ^ on, Mark Benson. "World's Longest | Danyang Kunshan Grand Bridge". EngineeringClicks. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
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Records
Preceded by World's longest bridge
2010 – present
Succeeded by
Incumbent
World's longest railway bridge
2010 – present