By Xinhua
Ningbo (China) : The world's longest sea bridge that spans Hangzhou Bay near Shanghai on China's east coast was inaugurated Tuesday.
The 36-km long bridge Hangzhou Bay Bridge starts at Jiazxing and ends at Cixi, around 70 km from Ningbo city in Zheijiang province.
The bridge will be open to traffic before the Beijing Summer Olympic Games in August 2008, according to deputy commander-in-chief Jin Jianming.
It will shorten the distance from Shanghai to Ningbo from 400 km to just 80 km.
The cost of the project is around 11.8 billion yuan ($1.42 billion). More than half of the funds have come from China's private sector. This is the first time the private sector has invested in a public infrastructure project in China.
Construction of the six-lane bridge, on which motor vehicles will be able to drive at speeds of up to 100 km per hour, began in November 2003.
Surfacing of the bridge and will be completed by the end of November, Jin said.