Bridge on Xiong'an Expressway in place

The last segment of the main span of the bridge on the Beijing-Xiong'an Expressway over the Yongding River is completed on Saturday. DENG WEI/FOR CHINA DAILY

The last segment of the span of a new megabridge along the Beijing-Xiong'an Expressway was completed in Beijing on Saturday, in preparation for the route's opening later this year, according to the Beijing transport commission.

The 1,620-meter bridge crosses the Yongding River in southwestern Beijing and will be another of the capital's landmark bridges once opened. The main 300-meter arch makes the bridge the city's longest single-arch-span bridge, and will carry eight lanes.

A total of 22,000 metric tons of steel was used in its construction, according to Gao Linlong, an engineer from the Shanghai Civil Engineering Group of the China Railway Engineering Group.

A wetland park is being created on both sides of the bridge, which will be a new leisure area for residents.

The bridge is a key project along the expressway linking Beijing and Xiong'an, one of the major transport projects currently under construction in China.

The expressway will extend more than 100 km when completed and runs for 27 kilometers in Beijing and 75 km in Hebei province. The last section — between the capital's fifth and sixth ring roads — is under construction.

Once open, it will take about an hour to drive from the Fifth Ring Road in the southwestern part of the capital to Xiong'an, saving up to 30 minutes.

"It will also boost regional socioeconomic development. There is an old Chinese saying, 'build a road first if you want to get rich'. This shows that transport can boost regional economic development," said Zhao Yang, an official at the Beijing Transport Commission.

"The opening of the expressway will not only improve the network in southern Beijing, but also boost regional economic development along the way, including in the districts of Fengtai, Daxing and Fangshan, and in neighboring Hebei," she added.

Zhao also noted that the new expressway will boost the integration of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei.

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