The world's longest trans-oceanic bridge spanning Hangzhou Bay near Shanghai on China's east coast was inaugurated Tuesday in a grand ceremony, REPORTED DPA QUOTING Xinhua news agency. The 36-kilometre bridge starts at Jiazxing and ends at Cixi, around 70 kilometres from Ningbo city in Zheijiang province. The bridge will be open to traffic from August 2008 before the Beijing Summer Olympics shortening the distance between Shanghai and Ningbo from 400 kilometres to just 80 kilometres, the report quoted deputy commander-in-chief Jin Jianming as saying. The costs of the project were put at around 11.8 billion yuan (1.42 billion dollars). More than half of the costs have been footed by China's private sector, Xinhua reported. This was the firs time the private sector had invested in a public infrastructural project. Workers will complete surfacing of the six-lane bridge by late November, Jin said.
