Xihoumen Bridge

Xihoumen Bridge 西堠门大桥
Xihoumen Bridge
Coordinates	30°03′42.00″N 121°54′22.90″E / 30.0616667°N 121.9063611°ECoordinates: 30°03′42.00″N 121°54′22.90″E / 30.0616667°N 121.9063611°E
Carries	Yongzhou Expressway
Crosses	Hangzhou Bay
Locale	Jintang Island and Cezi Island, Zhejiang province,  People's Republic of China
Characteristics
Design	Suspension bridge
Height	211 m (692 ft)
Longest span	1,650 m (5,413 ft)
History
Construction end	16 December 2007
Opened	25 December 2009

The Xihoumen Bridge (simplified Chinese: 西堠门大桥; traditional Chinese: 西堠門大橋) is a suspension bridge built on the Zhoushan Archipelago, the largest offshore island group in China. The main span was completed in December 2007. ^[1] The entire bridge, along with Jintang Bridge, was opened to traffic on a test basis on 25 December 2009. ^[2] It is the second-longest suspension bridge ranked by the length of the centre span. The opening date was put off because of a ship collision on 16 November 2009 that slightly damaged the side of Jintang Bridge.

The Xihoumen Bridge under construction (2007)

The 5.3-kilometre-long suspension bridge connection has a 2.6-kilometre-long main bridge with a central span of 1,650 metres. The approaches total 2.7 kilometres. When it opened, there was only one bridge with a larger span, the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge in Japan. However, there are several bridges planned with larger spans.

The bridge was built by the province of Zhejiang, at a cost of 2.48 billion yuan (approximately US$363 million). Construction began in 2005, and the first traffic crossed the bridge on 25 December 2009, at 11:58 p.m., local time.

The Xihoumen Bridge links Jintang and Cezi islands. Another bridge, the 27-kilometer-long cable-stayed Jintang Bridge, links Jintang Island and Zhenhai of Ningbo. The two bridges are the second phase of a huge project started in 1999 to link the Zhoushan Archipelago to the mainland with five bridges. Construction of the other three bridges has been completed.

Notes

1. "World's Longest Suspension Bridge with Steel Box Beams Opens to Traffic". The People's Government of Zhejiang Province. 2007-12-18. Retrieved 2008-02-25.
2. "IABSE Workshop 2009 with Chinese Bridge Tour - Recent Major Bridges]" (PDF).

External links

• Xihoumen Suspension Bridge at Structurae
• Xihoumen bridge images and location at Google Earth
• "ZJ to build ld's 2nd longest suspension bridge". Zhejiang Online. March 4, 2005.
• diagrams and artist's depiction
• official announcement in People's Daily