China's first standard expressway linking the northeast cities of Shenyang and Dalian is to become the country's longest eight-lane super highway under an expansion scheme launched in Shenyang Friday.

The four-lane expressway, with a length of 348 kilometers, will be upgraded to eight lanes when the project is completed in 2004, said Zhang Gongxian, deputy head of the communications department of the Liaoning provincial government.

Twenty-eight construction firms, winners of a national tender, will undertake the job, which will cost about 8.4 billion yuan.

The expressway linking provincial capital Shenyang and Dalian on the coast of the Bohai Sea was the first standard expressway in China when it opened to traffic in 1990.

The upgraded expressway will have a width of 42 meters, allowing a speed of 120 kilometers per hour, compared with 100 kph previously.

( China Daily May 18, 2002)