"A bridge too far? China unveils world's longest sea bridge."

I thought this was pretty impressive when I saw it...

htt p://www.dailymail.co.uk

China has unveiled the world’s longest sea bridge, which stretches a massive 26.4 miles – five miles further than the distance between Dover and Calais and longer than a marathon. The Qingdao Haiwan Bridge, completed earlier this week, links the main urban area of Qingdao city, East China’s Shandong province, with Huangdao district, straddling the Jiaozhou Bay sea areas. The road bridge, which took four years and cost a cool £5.5billion to build, will be open for use in the New Year and is almost three miles longer than the previous record-holder, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in Louisiana. z

That structure features two bridges running side by side and is 23.87 miles (38.42km) long. The three-way Qingdao Haiwan Bridge is a staggering 174 times longer than London’s Tower Bridge, over the Thames River – and shaves 19 miles off the drive from Qingdao to Huangdao. Two separate groups of workers have been building the different ends of the structure since 2006.

And they were relieved when all the bridges connected properly, which they managed to do on December 22. WORLD'S LONGEST - Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge (rail) - China - 102 miles - Tianjin Grand Bridge (rail) - China - 71 miles - Weinan Weihe Grand Bridge (rail) - China - 50 miles - Bang Na Expressway (road) - Thailand - 34 miles One engineer commented: ‘The computer models and calculations are all very well but you can't really relax until the two sides are bolted together. ‘Even a few centimetres out would have been a disaster.’ With an overall length of 42.58km, the route between Qingdao and Huangdao will be shortened by 30km, cutting the travel time by about 20 minutes. However, the colossal construction is set to hold the record as the longest sea bridge only for a few years – and it will be bettered by another Chinese bridge in the next decade. Last December officials announced workers had begun constructing a bridge to link southern Guangdong province with Hong Kong and Macau. Set to be completed in 2016, officials say the £6.5billion bridge will span nearly 50km (30 miles). ‘Through a more convenient and fast transport network, Hong Kong's financial, tourism, trade and logistics and professional services can become better integrated with the Pearl River Delta and the surrounding areas,’ said Donald Tsang, Hong Kong's Chief Executive. The bridge will be a six-lane expressway that can handle earthquakes up to magnitude 8.0, strong typhoons and the impact of a 300,000 tonne vessel, said Zhu Yongling, one of the officials leading the project. Even when constructed that structure will be dwarfed by the longest bridge in the world, which is also in China. The Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge, also Chinese, is an astonishing 102 miles in length.

I wonder how earthquake proof this structure is. I would imagine it is an engineer's nightmare after a significant earthquake hits.

Originally posted by Corruption Exposed
I wonder how earthquake proof this structure is. I would imagine it is an engineer's nightmare after a significant earthquake hits.

It depends on how deep the water is and the consistency of the seabed that the pilings are set in.

If it is rock or hard clay, they will be fine. If it is soft mud, then you got problems

And here I was thinking everyone in China rides bicycles, and those with vehicles drive some run-down square piece of garbage.

China is now reminding me of the US in the early 80s.

I highly doubt something like this would be built if it were not extensively tested for safety.

Originally posted by captaintyinknots
I highly doubt something like this would be built if it were not extensively tested for safety.

Really?
Like China testing our tooth paste for antifreeze, or lead in our childrens toys? Or how about the dog food that was poisoned that China sent to us?
"extensively tested"

Originally posted by Violater1

Originally posted by captaintyinknots
I highly doubt something like this would be built if it were not extensively tested for safety.

Really?
Like China testing our tooth paste for antifreeze, or lead in our childrens toys? Or how about the dog food that was poisoned that China sent to us?
"extensively tested"

Maybe he should rephrase by saying:

" China would never build this if it wasn't safe for the CHINESE."

~Keeper

Thank you for the replies everyone. Over the years there have been many examples of bad construction methods by the Chinese. One example was the earthquake a few years ago where many buildings crumbled and collapsed because they were not build to code.

I say that it is probable that some portions of the bridge will collapse if hit by a large enough earthquake, but that is normal. A structure that size cannot be 100% earthquake proof.

I have not been one to condemn China or to think that they want to destroy the USA. I think they merely want to advance there civilization. And, as they are the oldest civilization it is actually nice to see them advance. This reminded me of when the USA made the Hoover dam, at the time it was an incredible engineering feat.

That's what this bridge is now.

I am happy and proud of the Chinese for doing this and think we will see much more.

So that is where all our damn cement went and why concrete has tripled in price...

reply to post by ArcAngel

I have not been one to condemn China or to think that they want to destroy the USA. I think they merely want to advance there civilization. And, as they are the oldest civilization it is actually nice to see them advance. This reminded me of when the USA made the Hoover dam, at the time it was an incredible engineering feat. That's what this bridge is now. I am happy and proud of the Chinese for doing this and think we will see much more.

I am also proud of this accomplishment. It certainly is an awesome structure. I was not trying to condemn the Chinese as much as I was impressed with this bridge. I was only making a logical assumption. Hopefully I am wrong. I would sure hate to be out on that thing when an earthquake or typhoon hit though .

reply to post by hawkiye

So that is where all our damn cement went and why concrete has tripled in price...

Hey, that sure is a good point. I never thought of that but I would imagine that projects like this can cause the rise in cost of materials. I wonder if they used the high quality or tried to cut costs with lower quality materials. It must have cost lots of money to build that bridge.

reply to post by Corruption Exposed

Over the years there have been many examples of bad construction methods by the Chinese. One example was the earthquake a few years ago where many buildings crumbled and collapsed because they were not build to code.

It's like everyone else, trial and error. We learn as we go, and beef up codes.

This is an excellent thread, by the way. The pictures are very nice.

reply to post by ladyinwaiting


You are definitely right. Even here in Canada we had to learn the hard way. In the 70's we had a few building projects go bad. One example is the Olympic stadium in Montreal. I was in there in the late 80's and early 90s' and shortly after it started crumbling from the ceiling. I am glad no one got hurt, it could have been way worse.

Originally posted by Violater1

Originally posted by captaintyinknots
I highly doubt something like this would be built if it were not extensively tested for safety.

Really?
Like China testing our tooth paste for antifreeze, or lead in our childrens toys? Or how about the dog food that was poisoned that China sent to us?
"extensively tested"

Tell me, how often do you read of these things taking place in CHINA? Hmmmm...you dont suppose those things happening in america could have anything to do with companies like McDonalds outsourcing to the extreme lowest bidder? The chinese do not use the low quality things they produce.

Why would they, when they can sell them to america and make a profit?

Sometimes it doesnt pay to run around trolling other people's posts, kiddo. SOMETIMES it just makes you look foolish.