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Record-breaking Chinese bridge clears hurdle to faster transport in border province
- The structure, which passed a load test on Monday, is part of a belt and road project to improve connections with Southeast Asia
- World’s longest single-tower suspension bridge cuts travel time between the southwestern cities of Yuxi and Chuxiong from 1½ hours to just 2 minutes
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A record-breaking bridge in southwest China passed a demanding load test on Monday, clearing the way for faster travel along a belt and road corridor that will facilitate links to Southeast Asia, according to state media reports.
In an eight-day test that began on July 11, trucks carrying up to 1,280 tonnes (1,411 tons) of cargo drove back and forth non-stop over the Luzhijiang Bridge in the southwestern province of Yunnan, according to Science and Technology Daily, the newspaper of the Ministry of Science and Technology.
The 800-metre-long (2,625 feet) bridge, which holds the record for the world’s longest single-tower suspension bridge, is expected to cut travel time between the cities of Yuxi and Chuxiong from 1½ hours to just two minutes.
The area around Yuxi and Chuxiong includes some of China’s least developed counties near the border with Southeast Asia. Yuxi is known for tobacco production, while Chuxiong has one of the world’s largest deposits of dinosaur fossils.
The Chinese government built the Luzhijiang Bridge as part of a new 200km (124 miles) expressway through Yunnan to improve connections with countries including Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos.
The expressway is an infrastructure project under the Belt and Road Initiative, China’s plan to promote regional links and economic integration with more than 140 countries.
The bridge will “greatly improve the infrastructure of the counties and towns on both sides of the bridge, promote transport and economic exchanges in the surrounding areas, improve the investment environment, and open up a fast channel for the people along the line to increase their income and become rich”, said the Science and Technology Daily report.
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