Splendid Aizhai Bridge (Photo: People's Daily online)
The Aizhai Bridge 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.
As the world's highest and longest tunnel-to-tunnel bridge, the Aizhai suspension bridge links two tunnels 1,176 meters apart, carrying traffic 330 meters above the foot of Dehang Canyon. Construction of the bridge started in October 2007 and its main sections were completed at the end of last year. The bridge was temporarily opened to pedestrians during the 2012 Spring Festival and was formally opened to traffic in March 2012.
It is also the sixth-highest bridge in the world and the world's twelfth-longest suspension bridge. Of the world's 400 or so highest bridges, none has a main span as long as Aizhai.
The bridge contains 1,888 lights used to increase visibility at night.
It is designed to help ease traffic in the mountainous region, where queues are common due to the narrow, steep and winding roads.
The bridge and the associated road construction reduced the travel time between Jishou and Chadong from four hours to less than one hour, and is expected to inject vigor to local tourism.
