This is a
continuation of a series of articles that tackles different engineering
achievement, from world’s tallest building, longest bridge, biggest building,
and the likes. Now let’s talk about the world’s longest bridge.
With the advancement of technology and machinery, building
something big and long now seems to be less difficult. With this, engineers and architects were able to build majestic infrastructures around the globe. And
one kind of that majestic infrastructure is the Danyang Kunshan Grand Bridge in
China.
According to Wikipedia, a bridge is a structure built
to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley,
or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle. There are
many different designs that all serve unique purposes and apply to different
situations. Designs of bridges vary depending on the function of the bridge,
the nature of the terrain where the
bridge is constructed and anchored, the material used to make it, and the funds
available to build it.
There are several type of bridge,
this our:
- Beam Bridge
- Truss Bridge
- Cantilever Bridge
- Arch Bridge
- Tied Arch Bridge
- Suspension Bridge
- Cable-stayed Bridge
- Double-Decked Bridge
- Viaduct
Danyang Kunshan Grand Bridge falls into viaduct category, which
is composed of several small spans for crossing a valley or
a gorge. The bridge is 164, 800 meters (164.8 km) long. It has a main span of
80 meters (260 ft) and it runs through land and over water. Actually the
world’s longest bridge over water the Qingdao Haiwan Road Bridge is just a part
of Danyang Kunshan Grand Bridge. Qiandao Haiwan Bridge (Jiaozhou Bay Bridge) is
26.7 km long.
Danyang Kunshan Grand Bridge is
located on the rail line between Shanghai and Nanjing. Its construction started
on 2006 and was completed on 2010 and the official opening was on 2011, the
construction employed 10, 000 workers and costs around $8.5 billion. The main
purpose of the bridge is to solve the railway traffic on the area.
The high volume of workers is
partially caused by the 450, 000 tons of steel structure used in the
construction. Chinese officials stated that, the Danyang Kunshan Grand Bridge
can withstand strong typhoons, magnitude 8 earthquakes and an impact that is
equal to a 300, 000 ton vessel.
With its massive length, Danyang Kunshan Grand Bridge is truly an Engineering milestone.
Sources:
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