The Hangzhou Bay Bridge is the Chinese bridge opened in 2008 that crosses Hangzhou Bay and was once the world’s longest cross-sea bridge.
The six-lane expressway bridge connects Jiaxing in Zhejiang Province with Ningbo, shortening the road journey around the bay. It is about 36 kilometres long, including its approach sections, and was built to withstand strong tides, typhoons and challenging marine conditions.
The bridge opened to public traffic on 1 May 2008. Its central cable-stayed section has a distinctive S-shaped alignment, designed partly to cope with the bay’s currents and partly to improve drivers’ visibility and comfort.
It was often described at opening as the world’s longest cross-sea bridge, but later projects exceeded it in length. That record wording should not be confused with the world’s longest bridge overall, a category held by several long viaducts in China.