Authorities in the coastal city of Qingdao say they are accelerating construction of the world's second-longest suspension bridge that will span Jiaozhou Bay.

Scheduled to be put into service in 2010, the 28-km bridge will connect downtown Qingdao with the city suburbs of Hongdao and Huangdao. Construction is now about 30 percent complete, said an official from Shandong Expressway Group Co Ltd, the company in charge of the project, which has invested 3.16 billion yuan of the total 9.04 billion yuan to fund the bridge.

The eastern and western reaches of Jiaozhou Bay are now connected by ferries that carry about 1,000 passenger and cargo vehicles each day, and motorway ringing the bay that can carry about 25,000 cars a day.

The bridge will have six lanes and enable driving speeds of 80 km an hour, shortening the distance between downtown and Huangdao by 30 km to a half-hour drive.

The cross-bay bridge is the beginning of the planned Qingdao-Lanzhou Expressway, a key section of the country's nationwide road network and the expressway that will link Qingdao and Jinan, capital of the province.

Shandong Expressway Group won an open bid for the concession to build and manage the bridge for 20 years under a franchise agreement. Construction began in December 2006 and is scheduled for completion in three years.

Using state-of-the-art technologies and materials, the company says the bridge is designed for a century of use, even in harsh conditions.

The company adds it places a premium on marine environmental protection during the construction process, using advanced approaches to prevent damage to the bay ecology and water quality.

The bridge will be a crucial addition to the local economy, experts say, linking the various harbors of Qingdao Port to enable the integrated port perform more efficiently.

The authorities plan to enhance development of the west coast along the bay over the next 20 years to encourage a shift in location of the city's industries.

They say the suspension bridge will play an instrumental role in changing the city's industrial layout, driving development in the western part of the city and promoting growth of local tourism.

(China Daily April 2, 2008)