Global InformationAizhai Bridge information
Aizhai Bridge 矮寨大桥 | |
|---|---|
 Aizhai Bridge under construction in August 2011 | |
| Coordinates | 28°19′52″N 109°35′51″E / 28.331°N 109.5974°E |
| Carries | 4 lanes of  G65 Baotou–Maoming Expressway |
| Crosses | Dehang Grand Canyon (德夯大峡谷) |
| Locale | Jishou |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Suspension bridge |
| Total length | 1,534 m (5,033 ft) |
| Width | 24.5 m (80 ft)[1] |
| Longest span | 1,176 m (3,858 ft)[1] |
| Clearance below | 336 m (1,102 ft) |
| History | |
| Construction start | October 2007 |
| Construction end | December 2011 |
| Opened | 31 March 2012 |
| Location | |
 | |
The Aizhai Bridge (Chinese: 矮寨大桥) is a suspension bridge on the G65 Baotou–Maoming Expressway near Jishou, Hunan, China. The bridge was built as part of an expressway from southwest China's Chongqing Municipality to Changsha.[2]
The bridge is famous for the spectacular view it offers those crossing it.[3]
With a main span of 1,146 metres (3,760 ft) and a deck height of 336 metres (1,102 ft),[4] as of 2013[update], it is the thirteenth-highest bridge in the world and the world's nineteenth-longest suspension bridge. Of the world's 400 or so highest bridges, none has a main span as long as Aizhai.[5] It is also the world's highest and longest tunnel-to-tunnel bridge.[6] The bridge contains 1888 lights to increase visibility at night.[7]
Construction on the Aizhai Bridge began in October 2007 and was completed by the end of 2011, ahead of schedule.[8][9] The bridge was temporarily opened to pedestrians during the 2012 Spring Festival[9] and was formally opened to traffic in March 2012.[10]
The bridge was built with the assistance of a $208 million loan from the Asian Development Bank; the total project cost was $610 million, which included 64 kilometres (40 mi) of expressway construction (two thirds of which comprised bridge and tunnel) and upgrades to 129 kilometres (80 mi) of local roads.[11] The bridge and the associated road construction were projected to reduce the travel time between Jishou and Chadong from 4 hours to less than 1 hour.[11][12]
In September 2012, the Aizhai Bridge was the site of an international BASE jumping festival that included more than 40 jumpers from 13 countries.[13][14][15]
- ^ a b "湘西：矮寨大桥主体工程即将完工". Archived from the original on 2015-06-14. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
- ^ "The bridge that suspends belief". news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2021-09-18.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
NYTimes2017-06-10was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Hunan Government". Archived from the original on 2013-07-07. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
- ^ Sakowski, Eric Sakowski (2009). "Aizhai Bridge from highestbridges.com". highestbridges.com/. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
- ^ "China (News), Road transport (News), World news". The Guardian. London. 2 April 2012.
- ^ "China opens record-breaking bridge over canyon". The Daily Telegraph. London. 30 March 2012. Archived from the original on 1 April 2012.
- ^ "吉首矮寨悬索大桥达到通车标准（组图）". Archived from the original on 2012-02-11. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
- ^ a b "湖南：矮寨大桥竣工成为湘西一景 春节开放每天万人参观（图）". www.chinahighway.com. Archived from the original on 2012-04-09. Retrieved 2021-09-18.
- ^ "湖南：吉茶高速矮寨大桥3月通车". www.chinahighway.com. Archived from the original on 2014-03-24. Retrieved 2021-09-18.
- ^ a b http://www.adb.org/Documents/RRPs/PRC/37494-PRC-RRP.pdf [permanent dead link]
- ^ Yinbo Liu (May 2013), The Construction of a 1,176 Meter Long Aizhai Suspension Bridge (PDF), 26th ICTPA Annual Meeting, Tampa, FL, archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-08-10, retrieved 10 August 2014
- ^ "Video: Daredevils take part in Chinese base jumping festival". Telegraph. 2012-09-17. Archived from the original on 2012-09-18. Retrieved 2013-06-04.
- ^ "2012 Aizhai Bridge International BASE Jump Festival takes fl". YouTube. 2012-09-17. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. Retrieved 2013-06-04.
- ^ "Aizhai Bridge Jumping Festival, Aizhai China". Suz Graham. 2012-10-11. Retrieved 2013-06-04.