The arch of the Hutong Yangtze River Bridge's channel bridge is connected on Oct. 22, 2017. (Photo/Chinanews.com)
(ECNS) -- The arch of the Hutong Yangtze River Bridge's channel bridge was connected on Sunday, a breakthrough in the construction of the bridge linking Shanghai and Nantong City in Jiangxi Province.
The channel bridge's span, on the north side of the Hutong Yangtze River Bridge, is 336 meters long and weighs 32,400 tons. The main bridge body of this section will be built this year.
Construction on the 11,072-meter-long Hutong Yangtze River Bridge started in March 2014. As a joint project of the Shanghai-Nantong railway, the bridge has a design that allows dual-use, with rails on the lower layer and a highway on the top.
The main bridge is the world's longest cable-stayed bridge, spanning 1,092 meters on the south side, and 336 meters on the north, crossing Tiansheng port's special channel.
"The bridge will become the third access way to cross the Yangtze River," said an official from the construction side. "The travel time from Shanghai to Nantong will be reduced to about one hour."
