The longest sea bridge in the world has been built in China. How the longest bridge in the world works The fastest built bridge

One of the main wonders of the industrial world of France can be safely attributed to the world-famous Millau Bridge, which is the owner of several records at once. This giant bridge, which stretches over a huge river valley called the Tar, provides smooth and high-speed travel from Paris to the small town of Béziers.

Many tourists who come to see this very high bridge in the world, they often ask the question: “Why was it necessary to build such an expensive and technically complex bridge that leads from Paris to the very small city of Béziers? The thing is that it is in Beziers that a huge number of educational institutions, elite private schools and a retraining center for highly qualified professionals.

A huge number of Parisians, as well as residents from others, enter these schools and colleges. major cities France, attracted by the elitism of education in Béziers. In addition, the town of Beziers is located just 12 kilometers from the picturesque coast of the warm Mediterranean Sea, which, of course, in turn, also cannot fail to attract tens of thousands of tourists from all over the world every year.

Pont Millau, which can rightfully be considered the pinnacle of the skill of engineers and architects, is popular among travelers as one of the most interesting sights of France. Firstly, it offers a magnificent view of the Tar River valley, and secondly, it is one of the favorite objects for modern photographers. Photos of the Mihaud Bridge, which is almost two and a half kilometers long and 32 meters wide, made by the best and most authoritative photographers, adorn numerous office buildings and hotels not only in France, but throughout the Old World.

The bridge is a particularly fantastic sight when clouds are gathering under it: at this moment it seems as if the viaduct is suspended in the air and does not have a single support under it. The height of the bridge above the ground at its highest point is just over 270 meters. Viaduct Millau was built with the sole purpose of unloading the national highway number 9, which was constantly prone to traffic jams during the season, and tourists traveling in France, as well as truck drivers, were forced to idle for hours in traffic jams.

As mentioned above, the bridge, which is part of the A75 highway, connects Paris and the city of Béziers, but it is quite often used by motorists who travel to the capital of the country from Spain and southern France. It should be noted that the passage through the viaduct, which "soars above the clouds", is paid, which does not in the least affect its popularity among vehicle drivers and visitors to the country who came to see one of the most amazing wonders of the industrial world.

The legendary Mihaud viaduct, which every self-respecting bridge builder knows about and which is considered a model of technological progress for all mankind, was designed by Michel Virlazho and the brilliant architect Norman Foster. For those who are not familiar with the work of Norman Foster, it should be clarified that this talented English engineer, knighted and baroned by the Queen of Great Britain, not only recreated, but also introduced a number of new unique solutions to the Berlin Reichstag. It was thanks to his painstaking work, precisely verified calculations that the main symbol of the country was literally revived from the ashes in Germany. Naturally, Norman Foster's talent made the Millau Viaduct one of the modern wonders of the world.

In addition to the British architect, a group called "Eiffage", which includes the famous Eiffel workshop, which designed and built one of the main attractions of Paris, took part in the work on the creation of the highest transport artery in the world. By and large, the talent of Eiffel and employees from his bureau erected not only “ business card»Paris, but the whole of France. In a harmonious tandem, the Eiffage group, Norman Foster and Michel Virlageau designed the Millau Bridge, which was inaugurated on December 14, 2004.

Already 2 days after the festive event, the first cars drove along the final link of the A75 highway. An interesting fact is that the first stone in the construction of the viaduct was laid on December 14, 2001 only, and the start of large-scale construction started on December 16, 2001. Apparently, the plans of the builders were to coincide the date of the opening of the bridge with the date of the beginning of its construction.

Despite a group of the best architects and engineers, it was extremely difficult to build the tallest road transport bridge in the world. By and large, there are two more bridges on our planet that are located above Millau above the earth's surface: the Royal Gorge Bridge in the United States in Colorado (321 meters above the ground) and the Chinese bridge connecting the two banks of the Syduhe River.

True, in the first case, we are talking about a bridge that can only be crossed by pedestrians, and in the second, about a viaduct, the supports of which are located on a plateau and their height cannot be compared with the supports and pylons of Millau. It is for these reasons that the French bridge Millau is considered the most difficult in design and the highest road bridge in the world.

Some of the pillars of the final link A75 are located at the bottom of the gorge that separates the “red plateau” and the Lazarka plateau. To make the bridge completely safe, French engineers had to develop each support separately: almost all of them are of different diameters and are clearly designed for a specific load. The width of the largest pillar of the bridge reaches almost 25 meters at its base. True, in the place where the support is connected to the roadbed, its diameter is noticeably narrowed.

The workers and architects who developed the project had to face a whole host of difficulties during construction work. Firstly, it was necessary to strengthen the places in the gorge where the supports were located, and secondly, it was necessary to spend quite a lot of time on the transportation of individual parts of the canvas, its supports and pylons. One has only to imagine that the main pillar of the bridge consists of 16 sections, each of which weighs 2,300 tons. Running a little ahead, I would like to note that this is one of the records that belongs to the Millau bridge.

Naturally, there are no vehicles in the world that could deliver such massive parts of the piers of the Millau Bridge. For this reason, the architects decided to deliver parts of the supports in parts (if I can say so, of course). Each piece weighed about 60 tons. It is quite difficult to even imagine how much time it took for the builders only to deliver 7 supports to the bridge construction site, and this is not counting the fact that each support has a pylon a little more than 87 meters high, to which 11 pairs of high-strength cables are attached.

However, shipping building materials to the object is not the only difficulty faced by the engineers. The fact is that the Tar River valley has always been distinguished by a harsh climate: heat, quickly changing to piercing cold, sharp gusts of wind, steep cliffs - only a small part of what the builders of the majestic French viaduct had to overcome. There is official evidence that the development of the project and numerous studies continued for just over 10 years.

The roadbed of the Millau bridge, like the project itself, is unique, in order to avoid deformation of expensive metal sheets, which will be quite difficult to repair in the future, scientists had to invent an ultra-modern asphalt concrete formula. The metal canvases are quite strong, but their weight, relative to the entire gigantic structure, can be called insignificant ("only" 36,000 tons).

The coating was supposed to protect the canvases from deformation (be "soft") and at the same time meet all the requirements of European standards (resist deformation, be used for a long time without repair and prevent so-called "shifts"). It is simply impossible for even the most modern technologies to solve this problem in a short time. During the construction of the bridge, the composition of the roadbed was developed for almost three years. By the way, the asphalt concrete of the Millau bridge is recognized as unique in its kind.

Pont Millau - harsh criticism

Despite the lengthy development of the plan, clear-cut decisions and big names architects, the construction of the viaduct initially drew sharp criticism. By and large, in France, any construction is sharply criticized, remember at least the Sacre Coeur Basilica and the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Opponents of the construction of the viaduct said that the bridge would be unreliable due to shifts at the bottom of the gorge; will never pay off; the use of such technologies on the A75 highway is unjustified; the bypass road will reduce the flow of tourists to the city of Millau.

This is just a small part of the slogans with which the ardent opponents of the construction of the new viaduct addressed the government. They were listened to and for every negative appeal to the public was given an authoritative explanation. For the sake of fairness, we note that opponents, among whom were influential associations, did not calm down and continued their protest actions almost all the time while the bridge was being built.

Pont Millau - a revolutionary solution

The construction of the most famous French viaduct took, according to the most conservative estimates, at least 400 million euros. Naturally, this money had to be returned, so the passage along the viaduct was paid: the point where you can pay for the "trip through the miracle of modern industry" is located not far from the small village of Saint-Germain. More than 20 million euros were spent on its construction alone.

The payment station contains a huge covered shed, which took 53 giant beams to build. During the "season", when the flow of cars along the viaduct increases sharply, additional lanes are used, which, by the way, are at the "checkpoint" 16. There is also an electronic system at this point that allows you to track the number of cars on the bridge and their tonnage. By the way, the term of the “Eiffage” concession will last only 78 years, this is how much time the state allocated to the group to cover its expenses.

Most likely, it will not even be possible to recover all the Eiffage funds spent on the construction. However, the group looks at such unfavorable financial forecasts with a grain of irony. Firstly, "Eiffage" is far from being poor, and secondly, the Millau bridge served as yet another proof of the genius of its specialists. By the way, the talk that the companies that built the bridge will lose money is nothing more than fiction.

Yes, the bridge was not built at the expense of the state, but after 78 years, if the bridge does not bring profit to the group, France will be obliged to pay the losses. But if “Eiffage manages to earn 375 million euros on the Miillau viaduct sooner than 78 years later, the bridge will become the property of the country free of charge. The concession period will last, as mentioned above - 78 years (until 2045), but the group of companies has given a guarantee on its majestic bridge for 120 years.

Traveling on the four-lane highway of the Millau Viaduct is not worth the "sky-high" sums, as many might think. The passage of a car along the viaduct, the height of the main support of which is higher than the Eiffel tower and just a little below the Empire State Building, it will cost only 6 euros (in the "season" 7.70 euros). But for two-axle trucks, the fare will already be 21.30 euros; for three axles - almost 29 euros. Even motorcyclists and people who travel along the viaduct on scooters have to pay: the cost of traveling across the Mijo Bridge will cost them 3 euros and 90 euro cents.

The Viaduct Millau bridge comprises an eight-span steel roadway supported by eight steel pillars. The weight of the roadbed is 36,000 tons, the width is 32 meters, the length is 2,460 meters, and the depth is 4.2 meters. The length of all six central spans is 342 meters, and the two outer ones are 204 meters long each. A road with a slight slope - 3%, descends from the south side to the north, its curvature with a radius of 20 km in order to enable drivers to better view... The movement of transport occurs in two lanes in all directions.

The height of the columns ranges from 77 to 246 meters, the diameter of one of the longest columns is 24.5 meters at the base, and at the roadbed - eleven meters. Each base has sixteen sections. One section has a weight of 2,230 tons. The sections were assembled on site from individual parts. Each individual section of the section has a mass of sixty tons, seventeen meters long and four meters wide. Each support must support pylons that are 97 meters high. First, the columns were assembled, which were together with temporary supports, then parts of the canvas moved along the supports with the help of jacks. The jacks were controlled from satellites.

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We welcome you again on the pages of our site "I and the World"! Bridges stretch over water, over land, over an abyss. Today we will tell you what is the longest bridge in the world.

Going on a trip around the world, take a look at the top 10 of the longest structures, take a closer look at the photos, find out where they are and what they are called. And then walk through them in reality.

On the 1st place Danyang-Kunshan viaduct - 164 800 m

Danyang-Kunshan Viaduct connects the two cities in East China... This is a railway bridge that can be crossed by several trains at once. Almost 9 km passes above the water surface, the rest of the distance trains travel overland. The construction did not last long, only four years and 10,000 people worked here. China spent $ 8.5 billion on the project and it is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest in the world.

2nd place is occupied by the Great Tianjin - 113,700 m

This facility continues the high-speed rail link between Beijing and Shanghai, and is also built in China.

3rd place - Bridge over the Wei - 79,700 m

Again the Chinese railway bridge. It connects the banks of the Wei River and crosses it twice. Trains began to run on it in 2010, although it was built in 2008.

4th place - Bang Na Highway - 54,000 m

This is a six-lane highway, but many consider this road to be a bridge because it runs above the ground. The automotive giant is located in Thailand and took 5 years to build. Serious traffic jams convinced the authorities to build this highway and invest over a billion dollars in it. And although the highway is toll, many motorists and tourists try to drive along it, bypassing traffic jams and admiring the surrounding views.

The middle of the rating - Qingdao - 42,500 m

The largest car project across the body of water. All 42.5 km of the Qingdao Bridge goes over the bay. It took 4 years to build it, and during this time it took $ 10 billion. Every day up to 30,000 cars pass along the road, saving only half an hour of time. Some people wonder: why was it necessary to spend that kind of money from the budget for 30 minutes of savings?

6th place - Pontchartrain Bridge-Dam - 38 420 m

Also goes through the water of Lake Pontchartrain USA. Located in Louisiana and requires a fee. Now you can drive between the two shores of the lake in just 50 minutes. It is very resistant to various elements, but it can be seen built so low above the water that barges periodically crash into it.

We give the 7th place to the Bridge over the Hangzhou Bay - 35 673 m

One of the most beautiful in the world, located in China. Surface, passing through the Pacific Gulf. The structure is built in the shape of the letter S. Driving through the structure, motorists reduce the distance by 120 km. Six lanes of the road can be driven at a speed of 100 km / h. The shelf life is set at around 100 years and then the structure is reconstructed.

On the 8th place is the Shanghai Maglev - 30,500 m

This is the most expensive Chinese railway project. It is made on a magnetic suspension. The project cost about $ 1.6 billion. The road is mostly in swampy areas, and every 25 km, concrete pads had to be made for the supports, which are expensive. The most high speed trains on such a bridge are about 430 km / h, but only one and a half minutes - after all, there is almost nowhere to accelerate.

We give the 9th place to the Bridge-Tunnel, which passes through the Chesapeake Bay - 28 140 m

A very interesting structure that becomes an underwater tunnel. Great idea for a ride underwater. The building took 35 years to build. The fare on the bridge is $ 12 per ride. Cars travel for some time on the surface, and then "go" down into a tunnel under water, so that the ships can freely sail through the structure.

And the list ends with the King Fahd Bridge - 26,000 m

It consists of several dams and small bridges that connect Saudi Arabia and the island state of Bahrain. The name is given in honor of the king of Arabia, who laid the foundation for the construction. One of the parts is quite remarkable, because it rises high above the water, like a hill. I would like to tell you about others unique bridges not included in the top ten

The longest arch was built in Shanghai, more than 3.5 km long and about 45 m high

The longest hinged glass is again in China with a length of 488 m and a width of 2 m

The structure connects two rocks, and its weight has reached 70 tons. When tourists come to the center, it sways slightly. How great it is, but also scary! 500 people can step on it at the same time.

The longest pedestrian suspension runs over the Akhshtyr Gorge in Sochi. Length - 439 m and it stretches at a height of 207 m

The length of the longest in Europe - 17 km - Vasco da Gama

The structure is quite beautiful and passes over very clear waters. It took only a year and a half to build and was ready by the 500th anniversary of the opening of the route from Europe to India.

In Russia, the long cable-stayed one was built in Vladivostok 3100 m

It is about 29 m wide and weighs 23,000 tons. High pylons rise up to 324 m. Another large cable-stayed one is located in St. Petersburg across the Neva River. It is fixed and has a length of 2884 m.

An unusual "dancing bridge" is laid across the Volga and stretches for 2.5 km

At the end of 2011, it was strengthened with the participation of specialists from Germany.

And here is the current project - the Crimean bridge

It will be one of the largest in Russia. For 19 km, the road and railways from the Taman Peninsula to the Crimean coast through the sea strait will run alongside. Opening of the Crimean bridge:.

We have shared information about the longest and most unusual bridges in the world, passing through the sea, land, suspension and rail. Share information with your friends in social networks and see you on the pages of our site!

If you look at the list of the longest bridges in the world, Asian countries are in the lead, especially China, which indicates a rapid economic development country. In addition, China produces and consumes about 60% of the world's cement - between 2011 and 2013, China used as much cement as the United States did throughout the 20th century.

Per last years China has managed to raise the bar in bridge building to unprecedented heights by building bridges that beat all world records. Of the ten longest bridges, only two were built not in Asia, but in the United States, a country known for its engineering and technical wonders. One of these bridges connects the shores of Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana.
The dam bridge over Lake Pontchartrain consists of two bridges, each 38 kilometers long. One was built in 1956, the other, slightly longer than its predecessor, was completed in 1969. And since then, the dam has held the title of the longest bridge over water in the world. China's Qingdao Bay Bridge, built in 2011, posed a threat to its American brother, but Guinness World Records quickly came up with a new category to save the United States from international embarrassment.

The Pontchartrain Dam Bridge was a monumental achievement for civil engineers, not only because of its limitless length, but also because of its advanced technological techniques.

Standard practice in bridge construction was to use 24-inch solid square or cylindrical reinforced concrete piles. It was during the construction of the bridge over Lake Pontchartrain that the 54-inch-diameter hollow cylindrical prestressed concrete piles were first used, which were larger and stronger than conventional piles. Yes, and much less such piles were required, which reduced the cost of construction.

And when such a historical bridge in every sense is challenged by another country, it is not surprising that official representatives of the dam bridge over Lake Pontchartrain not only took offense, but also decided to act in order to find something with which to reflect the blow. The Chinese bridge began to be tested and investigated, and in the end an omission was found.

The Qingdao Bay Bridge, which cost $ 2.3 billion to build, is 41.5 kilometers long, making it more than three kilometers longer than the American bridge. But representatives of the Pontchartrain dam-bridge claim that this length was achieved due to the curve of the bridge. In fact, the actual distance crossed by the bridge is about 25 kilometers.

Representatives of the Guinness Book of Records have already managed to demote the American bridge to 2nd place and decided that the best way out of the situation would be to create a new category. And the dam bridge over Lake Pontchartrain became the longest bridge across the body of water (continuously along its entire length), and the Chinese one - the longest in total duration. And everyone was satisfied.

True, soon the Chinese record holder will also have to make room - in 2017, the Macau-Zhuhai-Hong Kong bridge is to be built, the length of which will reach 50 kilometers, and it will connect Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai.

Satellite photograph of Lake Pontchartrain. The bridge practically divides the water area in half.

Dam bridge over Lake Pontchartrain.

Comparison of two bridges - American and Chinese.

Qingdao Bay Bridge. Satellite image.

Qingdao Bay Bridge.

The new bridge linked Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau. The length of the structure is 55 km, the construction of the bridge took eight years, and its cost is estimated at 110 billion yuan (14.16 billion euros). During the construction, which lasted eight years, three artificial islands were created and underwater tunnel(also the longest in the world).

This is how it all looks.

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In 2018, the world's longest bridge across the sea was commissioned, connecting Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai. The length of the structure is 55 km, of which 38 km fall directly on various sections of the bridges. In addition to them, there is an underwater tunnel almost 7 km long and artificial islands. The length of the main bridge is almost 30 km; there are three lanes in each direction for the movement of vehicles.

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Construction has been carried out since 2009, while taking into account environmental requirements, so as not to harm the marine fauna of the region. Tunnel and sections with cable-stayed bridges were built in order to ensure the passage of large-tonnage sea vessels.

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The main work was completed back in July 2017, and it was expected that traffic on the bridge would be launched before the end of the year. However, the coordination of border control mechanisms is still ongoing - Hong Kong and Macau, although they are part of the PRC, are special administrative units.

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According to the creators, it will be able to withstand a magnitude 8 earthquake and last at least 120 years.

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The construction of the bridge took 420 thousand tons of steel, which is enough for the construction of 60 Eiffel Towers.

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The construction will take the fourth place in the length of bridges in the world. The first three records also belong to China. Danyang-Kunshan Viaduct is on the first line of the rating. It was built in 2011 in Eastern China, its length was 164.8 km, but only 9 km of the bridge pass over the water. The second place is at the Tianjin Viaduct (113.7 km). It was opened the same year. Both bridges are part of the Beijing-Shanghai High Speed railroad... The top three is closed by the bridge over Wei (79.7 km), which is part of another railway line in China. The bridge crosses the Wei River twice, as well as other rivers, roads and railways.

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The Chinese have performed another architectural miracle of a grandiose scale. The constructed Hangzhou Bay Bridge is the most important section of the Superhighway on the East Coast of China. The bridge starts at Jiaxin in the north and ends in Ningbo, in the south of the country. It is the longest bridge in the world that crosses the ocean, 36 kilometers long. The bridge crosses the Hangzhou Bay in the East China Sea and the Qiantang River in the delta of the great Yangtze River.

The construction of this facility reduced the distance for ground transportation from Ningbo to Shanghai by 120 km, and the travel time was reduced from four hours to two. The dual-lane highway contains six lanes, with a speed limit of 100 km / h. According to the project, the bridge is guaranteed to last 100 years.

The bridge is not only the longest (by sea), but also built in the most difficult sea environment- one of the three strongest currents on Earth flows here, typhoons often occur, and the seabed is extremely heterogeneous. The map shows the location of the bridge:

Pictured is the opening ceremony of the Hangzhou Bridge

Hangzhou Bay is a bay in the East China Sea where one of the natural wonders of China is observed - the Qiantang River Stream, which creates fast water currents and big waves... The area is also prone to frequent typhoons. These factors complicated the task for the designers, and the design and construction plan were completed after only nine years of consultation and over 120 technical studies involving more than 700 experts worldwide.

The cable-restrained bridge design was chosen as it was deemed best to withstand adverse conditions, multidirectional flows, high waves, and the geological conditions of the site. The bridge was also designed to meet seismic criteria and maintains the integrity of the bridge in earthquakes up to seven on the Richter scale. The 36-kilometer bridge has six lanes, 3.75 meters each, three in each direction. The total width of the bridge will be 33 meters. The height is 62 meters. It allows container ships of the fourth and fifth generation to pass under the arches. The total length of the cable used in the project will be 32.2 km.

All bridge assemblies were cast on the ground and the finished components were then transported to site for assembly and final installation. Giant floating cranes with precision anchoring devices were used to load and install the girders at sea. The Hangzhou Bay Bridge consists of nine sections, 50 RTK5700 GPS systems have been installed to align all the slabs and sections of the bridge with perfect precision

In the middle of Hangzhou, there is a 10,000 m2 driver's rest island where you can relax and enjoy a full range of services, including hotels, restaurants, petrol stations and observation deck... The island is popular with tourists who like to watch the famous river flow. The maintenance island is entirely built on a pier to avoid destruction and is equipped with the latest security and monitoring systems. Public parks on both sides of Hangzhou

The new bridge linked Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau. The bridge took eight years to build and is estimated at 110 billion yuan (14.16 billion euros). The construction, which lasted eight years, created three artificial islands and an underwater tunnel (also the longest in the world).

This is how it all looks.

Construction has been carried out since 2009, while taking into account environmental requirements, so as not to harm the marine fauna of the region. The tunnel and sections with cable-stayed bridges were built in order to ensure the passage of large sea vessels.

The main work was completed back in July 2017, and it was expected that traffic on the bridge would be launched before the end of the year. However, the coordination of border control mechanisms is still ongoing: Hong Kong and Macau, although they are part of the PRC, are special administrative units.

According to the creators, the bridge will be able to withstand a magnitude 8 earthquake and will last at least 120 years.