World’s longest cross-sea bridge opens in China

Last month, China opened the world’s longest cross-sea bridge. The Jiaozhou Bay bridge is 26 miles (42 kilometers) long and links China’s eastern port city of Qingdao to the island of Huangdao. State-run CCTV announces the 110-foot (35-meter)-wide bridge is the longest of its kind and cost more than 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion). According to the Guinness World Records, the previous longest bridge over water was the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in Louisiana. The Chinese bridge is more than 2.5 miles longer. The earthquake and typhoon-proof bridge is designed to withstand the impact of a 300,000-ton vessel. The bridge has shortened the journey between Qingdao and Huangdao by about 18 miles, cutting travel time from 40 minutes to 20 minutes. The Jiaozhou Bay bridge is supported by more than 5,000 pillars and has been built in four years.

5