Sutong Bridge

Sutong Bridge
Sutong Bridge; 苏通长江大桥
Carries	G15 Shenyang–Haikou Expressway
Crosses	Yangtze River
Locale	Nantong / Changshu, Jiangsu, China
Design	Cable-stayed
Total length	8,206 m (26,923 ft)
Height	306 m (1,004 ft)
Longest span	1,088 m (3,570 ft)
Clearance below	62 m (203 ft)
Construction begin	June 2003
Construction cost	US$1.7 billion.
Opened	May 25, 2008
Coordinates	31°47′22″N 121°0′8″E / 31.78944°N 121.00222°ECoordinates: 31°47′22″N 121°0′8″E / 31.78944°N 121.00222°E

The Sutong Yangtze River Bridge (Chinese: 苏通长江大桥; Wu pronunciation: [sutʰoŋ dadʒɔ], Pinyin: sūtōngchángjiāngdàqiáo) is a cable-stayed bridge that spans the Yangtze River in China between Nantong and Changshu, a satellite city of Suzhou, in Jiangsu province.

Design and construction [edit]

With a span of 1,088 metres (3,570 ft), it was the cable-stayed bridge with the longest main span in the world in 2008-2012. Its two side spans are 300 metres (980 ft) each, and there are also four small cable spans. The bridge received the 2010 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement award (OCEA) from the American Society of Civil Engineers.^[1]^[2]

Two towers of the bridge are 306 metres (1,004 ft) high and thus the second tallest in the world. The total bridge length is 8,206 metres (26,923 ft). Construction began in June 2003, and the bridge was linked up in June 2007. The bridge was opened to traffic on 25 May 2008^[3] and was officially opened on 30 June 2008.^[4] Construction has been estimated to cost about US$1.7 billion.

The completion of the bridge makes the commute between Shanghai and Nantong, previously a four-hour ferry ride, shorten to about an hour.^[5] It brings Nantong one step closer to becoming an important part of the Yangtze River Delta economic zone, and has further attracted foreign investors into the city. The bridge is also pivotal in the development of poorer northern Jiangsu regions.

The tower is an inverted Y-shaped reinforced concrete structure with one connecting girder between tower legs. The bridge deck is a steel box girder with internal transverse and longitudinal diaphragms and fairing noses at both sides of the bridge deck. The total width of the bridge deck is 41 metres including the fairing noses.

AECOM provided comprehensive services to the main contractor, China Harbour Engineering Co. Second Navigational Engineering Bureau in the construction phase of the bridge. The services include contractor's alternative design; development of construction methodology; construction engineering/erection analysis/geometry control; deck lifting methods and procedures; surveying and monitoring techniques and systems; stay cable installation simulations; advice on construction method statements and specifications; bridge aerodynamics and wind tunnel testing; vibration mitigation measures/devices; falsework and plant/equipment design; advice on innovation and high-technology and research and development.