After five years of construction, the Suzhou-Nantong Yangtze Road Bridge was formally opened on 13 July.

The road bridge provides a link between the Jiangsu cities of Nantong and Suzhou. It has a span of 8.1km and consists of three lanes each way. Situated 108km upstream of the Yangtze mouth, the bridge joins the national highway network on both banks.

The new crossing should ease navigation problems caused by ferries operating in the Yangtze estuary and promote economic growth in the Yangtze River Delta. A road journey between Shanghai and Nantong now takes just one hour, compared with almost four hours previously, taking into account the ferry trip.

The bridge has already undergone a month-long trial, during which time there was a daily flow of 20,000 to 30,000 vehicles.

It has the world’s longest span of 1,088 metres, overtaking the previous record holder, the Tatara Bridge in Japan, which has a main span of 890 metres. The main navigational opening is 62 metres high and 891 metres wide, allowing the passage of 50,000-ton cargo vessels.