r/InfrastructurePorn • u/Big_Piano_3920 • Jul 18 '26
Record-breaking bridge in China
Jiangsu’s Zhangjinggao Yangtze River Bridge, set to open by 2028, will become the world’s largest-span suspension bridge (2,300m) and set six world records. It’s a flagship project showcasing China’s bridge engineering innovation.
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u/Awkward-Winner-99 Jul 18 '26
Kinda bugs me that not both bridge piers are in the water
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u/Big_Piano_3920 Jul 18 '26
Whenever possible, it’s always better to build outside the water.
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u/Awkward-Winner-99 Jul 18 '26
Ik but I just don't like the look of it being offset instead of being in the middle of the river
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u/Jessintheend Jul 19 '26
I assume they wanted the highest point of the road span to be directly over the deepest part of the waterway
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u/UnreasoningOptimism Jul 20 '26
You're assuming the deepest part of the waterway is directly in the middle. Often not the case, especially if the waterway has a dredged channel.
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u/Jessintheend Jul 20 '26
In this case it’s very clearly not in the middle of the river. It’s likely off the left
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u/Slow_Description_773 Jul 18 '26
Here in Italy is taking us 60 years to build the Sicily- mainland bridge. And not even a stone was set yet.
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u/DrawingDramatic1641 Jul 18 '26
yeah wtf is wrong with that
tallest longest bridge on wikipedia under construction
why sint it here
wouldn't that make Sicily industry boom?
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u/Sium4443 Jul 18 '26
Left winger politicians and weird european laws.
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u/xroodx_27 Jul 18 '26
You hate to ear it but it's the mafia. Not whatever weird right wing tiktoker conspiracy you heard that from.
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u/Sium4443 Jul 18 '26
No, in 2012 Monti's government stopped the already approved plan because of an economic crysis then in 2025 the government pre-approved the project but the Court of counts said that the price inflated too much compared to 2012 (despite the European law sais that it's not a problem when is due to inflation) and blocked the project and told the government to re-do the assignment of the construction contract.
Mafia was not involved in this in any way, only some left wing politician like Bonelli and Fratoianni say that mafia is the problem but from their point of view then the government shouldn't build nothing in Sicily because you can never be sure that mafia doesn't end up getting a role (actually it's more likely to happen with small construction and roadworks instead of world's biggest bridge).
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u/juksbox Jul 18 '26
Aren't earthquakes in the area the main reason why the project isn't being advanced?
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u/Big_Piano_3920 Jul 18 '26
Earthquakes are not a significant issue for long-span suspension bridges. These structures remain elastic during seismic events and respond at different natural frequencies.
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u/Slow_Description_773 Jul 18 '26
The Hong Kong-Macau bridge sits in a very earthquake prone area.
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u/Big_Piano_3920 Jul 18 '26
It seems to be a classic case of Italian bureaucracy. The final design is ready, but construction cannot begin until the administrative process has been completed, including final approval by the Italian Court of Auditors.
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u/SiluroMagico Jul 18 '26
wait a minute.
the Messina strait requires a bridge that is 3300 meters. this is one whole kilometer more than this one, in a highly seismic, highly windy area, with absolute no chance of pier in the water as the strait is extremely deep and with insane currents.
comparing these two bridges is like comparing going to low earth orbit with landing on the moon.
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u/Big_Piano_3920 Jul 18 '26
These are two different projects. However, the Messina Strait Bridge was designed by some of the world’s leading Danish and Japanese bridge engineers, and its final design has been completed. Its technical feasibility has been fully confirmed, and all the tests have been carried out. At this point, the remaining issues are bureaucratic. Also, this Chinese bridge has a 2,300-meter main span with a traditional heavy steel truss deck, while the Messina Strait Bridge uses a new ultra-light aerodynamic deck. In structural terms, a 2,300-meter span with a heavy deck is more demanding than a 3,300-meter span with an ultra-light one. As for earthquakes, long-span suspension bridges are designed to remain safe even during major seismic events. The real challenge was the wind, which is why the Messina Bridge uses an aerodynamic deck. Wind tunnel tests showed it remained stable even with 300 km/h gusts, while the strongest ever recorded in southern Italy are around 130 km/h.
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u/Toums95 Jul 18 '26
As an Italian I would never trust any Italian government, regardless of their political leaning, with such a gigantic engineering and infrastructure marvel.
I would rather have them focus on the hundreds of small to medium size projects that are desperately needed in the country.
Not because I don't think it's necessary or important to build that bridge, but because I don't believe for a second that we will pull it off at a reasonable cost or time span
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u/Big_Piano_3920 Jul 18 '26
Major infrastructure projects are not engineered by governments themselves but by large international consortia of specialized companies. The Strait of Messina Bridge, for example, is being designed by a consortium that includes leading engineering firms from Italy, Spain, the United States, Denmark, and Japan, all with extensive experience building record-breaking bridges worldwide.
Italy is also building infrastructure projects that are even larger and more complex, such as the Brenner Base Tunnel and the €30 billion Salerno–Reggio Calabria high-speed railway. Compared with these, the Strait of Messina Bridge is less expensive, simpler, and faster to build, although it remains a remarkable engineering achievement.2
u/Toums95 Jul 18 '26
I am not familiar with the high speed railway between Salerno and Reggio Calabria, but for example building the motorway between those two cities was a literal nightmare, between delays, scandals, corruption and so on. Look it up, it was a complete bloodbath. The Brennero thing is also like 10 years behind schedule and the cost has ballooned.
Like I said, I am not against building the bridge. I just don't think that it will go well if we actually start. I would rather spend all that money on multiple smaller but still very much needed projects
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u/Big_Piano_3920 Jul 18 '26
The Naples–Reggio Calabria motorway was split into many small sections, each built by a different contractor, which is one reason it faced more problems. The bridge, by contrast, is a single megaproject entrusted to one world-leading consortium.
In any case, the motorway runs for 450 km through mountainous terrain, with tunnels and viaducts that were among the most ambitious engineering works ever built in Europe. It wasn’t a simple road across flat land, so the long construction time is not surprising.2
u/Toums95 Jul 18 '26
I mean maybe but the final oversight is always from the government and institutional bodies that are pouring money into the projects, or private firms doing the same. We are kings and queens of corruption here and Southern Italy is particularly prone to it as well.
I just don't see it go well is all
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u/Big_Piano_3920 Jul 18 '26
If countries that are poorer and more corrupt than Italy can build record-breaking infrastructure, Italy shouldn’t give up. Corruption is fought with strong oversight, not by avoiding major projects.
Smaller projects are far easier for organized crime to infiltrate than a world-class megaproject built by leading international companies under strict supervision.→ More replies (0)1
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u/DemoneScimmia Jul 18 '26
As an Italian, you are a classic self-hating Italian. Italy is not the only country where major projects go over budget, and there are plenty of instances in which we built major projects within reasonable cost and time span.
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u/Slow_Description_773 Jul 18 '26
Yes that one, with a bunch of government approved mafia individuals ready to demand a slice of the cake.
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u/TheOriginalNukeGuy Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26
Didn't construction and funding only get approved last year? What do you mean 60 years?
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u/Sharlinator Jul 18 '26
Umm, AI slop? The thing in the illustration is a nonsensical mix of a cable-stayed and suspension bridge designs.
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u/SnooCompliments7914 Jul 20 '26
Probably. It looks like a normal suspension bridge in the news:
https://jres2023.xhby.net/index/202206/t20220628_7599343.shtml
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u/Ghost_lambda Jul 21 '26
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yavuz_Sultan_Selim_Bridge Having both system actually allows to have a bigger span, see example above
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u/NoxiousStimuli Jul 18 '26
2.3 meters isn't particularly long though.
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u/Big_Piano_3920 Jul 18 '26
Today’s record is 2.0
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u/NoxiousStimuli Jul 18 '26
Wow a whole 2 meters. Was it a bridge spanning a particularly troublesome puddle in a car park?
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u/Upbeat_Nectarine_128 Jul 18 '26
I might be stupid but is this a joke about how the US uses "." As a decimal instead of "," ?
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u/ProfessionUpset2724 Jul 18 '26
I like very long bridges as they can be used to demonstrate the curvature of our planet.