Tongling Yangtze River Highway Bridge

Tongling Yangtze River Highway Bridge

Tongling Yangtze River Highway Bridge is a cultural tourism attraction.

The Tongling Yangtze River Highway Bridge is a cultural tourism attraction.

The bridge is lightweight and aesthetically pleasing, reflecting the contemporary architectural philosophy of bridge construction. Spanning the river in a single arch, the bridge has revitalized the entire region. Its completion played an immeasurable role in linking transportation between northern Huai, Jianghuai, and southern Anhui, easing the long-standing strain on north-south traffic, accelerating the economic development of Tongling City, and laying the foundation for Tongling as a central city in the heartland of Anhui. Additionally, the South Bridge Park features numerous small scenic spots such as "Phoenix Nirvana," "Anchor Drill," and the "Merit Stele Pavilion," attracting large numbers of tourists for sightseeing.

The Yangtze River has nurtured the Chinese civilization, blessed generations, and is a celestial marvel with a long history. Flowing through Anhui Province for over 400 kilometers, the Yangtze’s banks are rich in resources, boast a strong industrial base, and are dotted with famous mountains such as Huangshan, Jiuhua Mountain, and Tianzhu Mountain. The scenery here is uniquely splendid. However, since ancient times, the Yangtze has also been a formidable barrier, blocking land routes and severing north-south connections, hindering economic growth and causing prolonged hardship. Now, the first major bridge over the Yangtze in Anhui — the Tongling Yangtze River Highway Bridge — stands proudly, eliminating the need for boats to cross the river and turning a natural barrier into a smooth highway. This is a blessing for Tongling, for Anhui, and a momentous event for the Yangtze. The Tongling Yangtze River Highway Bridge adopts a design of prestressed concrete double-tower fan-shaped cable-stayed structure, featuring a rational layout, innovative form, and majestic presence. The main span is 1,152 meters, the approach bridges total 1,440 meters, making the full length 2,592 meters. The pylons rise 153.665 meters high, with a main span of 432 meters. The bridge is designed to a first-class navigation standard, with a navigational clearance height of 24 meters. It ranks third in the world and first in Asia for bridges of this structural type. The accompanying highway connects northward via Hefei to Xuzhou, and southward to Huangshan and then on to Jiangxi, serving as a major transportation artery in the heart of East China.

The construction of the bridge was proposed in 1984, groundbreaking took place on December 15, 1991, and it was officially opened to traffic on December 26, 1995. The total investment was 450 million RMB. The bridge was designed by the Highway Planning and Design Institute of the Ministry of Transport, constructed by the China Communications Construction Company and Hunan Provincial Highway Bridge Construction Company, and supervised by the First Highway Survey and Design Institute of the Ministry of Transport. During construction, there was enthusiastic donation from society and local citizens, amounting to a total of 6.5 million RMB. The bridge was named by Li Peng, Premier of the State Council. With a single bridge spanning the river, the Yangtze gains a new landmark; connecting all directions, a grand project takes a giant leap forward. In this prosperous time and for this momentous achievement, we erect this stone tablet as a commemoration.