Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge

Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge 南京长江大桥
The two levels of the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge (2008)
Coordinates	32°06′55″N 118°44′20″E
Carries	Beijing–Shanghai Railway Nanjing–Xi'an Railway Nanjing–Qidong Railway Shanghai–Chengdu Railway National Highway 104 National Highway 205 National Highway 312
Crosses	Yangtze River
Locale	China: Nanjing, Jiangsu
Owner	People's Government of Nanjing Shanghai Railway Bureau
Characteristics
Design	2-level truss bridge
Material	Steel
Total length	Road: 4,588 meters (15,052 ft) Railroad: 6,772 meters (22,218 ft)
Width	Road: 19.5 meters (64 ft) Sidewalk: 4.5 meters (15 ft) Railroad: 14 meters (46 ft)
Height	70 meters (230 ft)
Longest span	160 meters (525 ft)
No. of spans	10
Piers in water	9
Clearance below	24 meters (79 ft)
History
Designer	PRC Ministry of Railways
Construction start	18 January 1960
Construction end	Road: 29 December 1968 Railroad: 30 September 1968
Replaces	Yangtze River Railway Ferry
Statistics
Daily traffic	Road: 80,000 cars, trucks, & buses Railroad: 200 trains (2011)
Location

The Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge is a 4-lane steel bridge in Nanjing that crosses the Yangtze River. It has two levels. The top level is a road for cars, buses, and trucks. There is also a sidewalk for people on foot. That part is 4588 meters or 15,052 feet long. The bottom level is a railroad for trains. That part is 6772 meters or 22,218 feet long.

It is owned, paid for, and fixed by Nanjing's government and by the Shanghai Railway Bureau.

Name

The Mandarin Chinese name of the bridge is Nánjīng Chángjiāng Dàqiáo, which means "the Big Bridge across the Long River in the Southern Capital". (Chángjiāng or "Long River" is the Chinese name for the Yangtze River, and "Nanjing" means "Southern Capital".) It is written 南京長江大橋 in the traditional characters used by Chinese people on Taiwan and in Hong Kong and 南京长江大桥 in the simplified characters used by mainland China.

History

The Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, when it was being built

The Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge in 2008, after China's Opening Up

The Yangtze River is very big and very wide. During wars, people sometimes made pontoon bridges out of many boats. Most of the time, to go from one side to the other, people needed to use a ferry. This made things pretty slow and slowed the growth of China's economy.

The Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge was started in 1960. Both parts were finished and opened for use in late 1968. It was the 3rd bridge across the Yangtze River, after Wuhan's bridge and the Baishatuo Bridge near Chongqing. It is still important and a landmark in Nanjing because it was the first big bridge designed and built completely by Chinese people. It also has art from the Cultural Revolution.

It is also infamous as the place with the most known suicides in the world. More than 2000 people have jumped off of the bridge since it was opened.

Transport

The road across the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge is National Highway 104. The same road is also part of highways 205 and 312.

The railroad across the bridge is the Beijing–Shanghai Railway. (This is the railroad for slow trains. The high-speed trains between Beijing and Shanghai use a different bridge.) The same railroad is also part of the Nanjing–Xi'an and Nanjing–Qidong Railways. It is also used for the Shanghai–Chengdu High-Speed Railway, but those trains can't go very fast across the bridge.

Art

The bridge was constructed under the leadership of Chairman Mao Zedong. It is covered with his sayings and calligraphy (artistic handwriting). It also has statues and pictures of strong and passionate soldiers, workers, and farmers that go along with what the words say. There are also pictures of China's growing industry.

• 
  One of Mao Zedong's sayings, with his signature
• 
  PLA soldiers carrying Mao Zedong's "Little Red Book"
• 
  Women carrying guns and Communist signs
• 
  A picture of China's growing industry