The Second Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, the longest cable bridge in China, has been completed seven months ahead of schedule and will be open to traffic at the end of this month.

The 21.2-kilometre-long construction actually consists of two bridges, with an expressway across the Bagua Island in the Yangtze River connecting the two.

The southernmost of the two bridges, with a span of 628 meters, is the longest in China and the third longest in the world.

The bridge was designed by the Construction Designing Institute of the Transportation Department of China, and was built by the Hunan Road and Bridge Corporation.

The Bagua bridge, started in July 1997, is 11 kilometers downstream from the first Nanjing Yangtze River bridge built 32 years ago.

According to Dai Yongning, vice-mayor of Nanjing and the project leader, the new bridge, with a capacity to take 60,000 vehicles per day, was built to relieve the pressure on the old one.

The old bridge was only designed to take 15,000 vehicles per day, 35,000 less than the actual volume in 1999, and more than 20,000 square meters of road surface is now damaged on the bridge as a result.

"Quality is of top priority in the project," said Dai.

Strong measures have been taken against possible corruption during the bridge's construction process, which involves a total investment of 3 billion yuan (US$361 million).

Major universities in East China, including the Southeast, Tongji and Zhejiang universities, together with foreign consultation firms, have been invited to play watchdog roles for the project.

The half-built bridge was completely undamaged in the flood of 1998.

According to Lou Xuejun, vice-commander of the project, the Third Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge will probably begin construction this April, immediately after the opening of the Bagua bridge.

The third bridge is currently awaiting approval by the provincial transportation department.

According to the city's development plan approved by the State Council, the Fourth Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge will be completed by the end of 2010.

(People’s Daily 03/01/2001)