Stringer
Donghai Bridge
Shanghai/Yangshan, China
China Zhongtie Major Bridge Engineering Group, Shanghai No. 2 Engineering Co., Shanghai Urban Construction Group
A key phase in the development of the world's largest deep-sea port was completed when China's first cross-sea bridge—the 20-mile, six-lane Donghai Bridge—was officially opened in December, 2005 (O.K., we're cheating a bit). Stretching across the East China Sea, the graceful cable-stay structure connects Shanghai to Yangshan Island, set to become China's first free-trade port (and the world's largest container port) upon its completion in 2010. To provide a safer driving route in the typhoons and high waves known to hit the region, Donghai Bridge is designed in an S-shape. The structure, reported by Shanghai Daily to have cost $1.2 billion, will hold its title of China's—and the world's—longest over-sea bridge for only a couple of years, though. In 2008, the nearby 22-mile Hangzhou Bay Transoceanic Bridge will earn that superlative.
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