Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge

Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge is the new China’s first self-reliantly designed and constructed construction of railway-highway bridge, which opened a new era of large-scale bridge building for China.

Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, located on the northwest side of Nanjing on the Yangtze River, connected urban areas and Pukou District. It was built from January 1960, when Soviet Union withdrew experts, tore up the contract, interrupted the supply of steel beam, and all problems must be solved by Chinese themselves. However, the bridges succeed in construction in September 1968 with the opening of the lower railway bridge, and in December of the same year with the above highway. The 4589 meter-long highway is 15 meters in width, accommodating four large automobile in parallel, with 2 meters sidewalks on both sides; the lower of the railway bridge has a length of 6772 meters and is 14 meters wide, paved with double tracks, allowing two trains running the same time. Over the bridge are150 pairs of magnolia flower-shaped lamps and guardrails embedded with 200 iron embossments. Via the bridge, the both lines of Tianjin-Nanjing and Shanghai-Nanning are connected, and the Beijing-Shanghai railway has run through on that too.

Under the approach bridge parts of north and south are two areas of about 20 hectares of bridge park, planted with various flowers and trees. Tourists can take elevators straight to the 70m high bridge deck of the bridgehead. In the South Park settled an exhibition hall introducing the history of the Yangtze River Bridge, which makes the whole bridge more magnificent.

Interestingly, as one of the 48 spots of the ancient city of Nanking, Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge is also the bridge with the highest suicide rate in China. For every week, no fewer than five people jump into the rolling River from here. So coincidentally that its designer is the university student of Strauss, the designer of the Golden Gate Bridge – a bridge with the highest suicide rate among all in US. It has been asked for tourists to help someone preparing to commit suicide, discourage and tell them that every person has not only the right to live, but also the obligation to cherish his life.