The world's longest cross-sea bridge will soon loom over Hangzhou Bay in East China's Zhejiang Province.

According to the provincial Construction Bureau, the bridge, which starts in Cixi County in Ningbo and ends at Zhapu port in Jiaxing, will span a total length of 36 kilometres, making it the longest in the world.

With a total investment of 16 billion yuan (US$1.93 billion), the main construction is expected to begin around the end of this year.

"If everything goes smoothly, the whole project can be completed in five years,"said Liu Ting, deputy director of the project.

Liu said that they are currently clearing up homes that are in the way of the bridge.

"It is the greatest construction project we have ever undertaken, not only because of the technical aspects but also because that it is so important to the economic development of the whole province," said Liu.

Due to the difficulty of the project, the bureau has conducted more than 70 technical research projects with the help of 600 experts over the past eight years. They have recently tentatively decided on a blueprint for the bridge.

According to the plan, the bridge, which was designed to have six lanes allowing vehicles running at 100 kilometers per hour, will be part of the province's whole expressway network.

"It will shorten 120 kilometers between Shanghai and Ningbo, and make the trip between the two cities two hours from the original four hours. Thus, a two-hour-expressway circle will be formed among Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Ningbo, therefore largely easing traffic strains," he said.

"The bridge is not only part of the effort to turn the city of Ningbo into an economic centre in southern Zhejiang, but it will also spread modern transport network to more small cities in the south-eastern corner of the region."

Statistics show that the province has a total of 1,300 kilometers of expressways.

( China Daily September 6, 2002)