CHENGDU, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The opening of the Yibin Nanxi Yangtze Bridge on Wednesday marks the completion of another project to replace ferries with bridges and facilitate commuting across the Yangtze River.
The bridge, 1,499 meters long and 30.5 meters wide, cost 650 million yuan (95 million U.S. dollars) and took four years to build in the Nanxi district of Yibin City in Sichuan Province, local transportation authorities said.
Before the inauguration of the bridge, ferries were a major means of transport. On a daily basis, ferries carried an average 4,000 to 5,000 people across the Yangtze River. Foggy weather frequently suspended ferry service in the winter, causing inconveniences. Cars had to cross the river through two other bridges located upstream and downstream.
Authorities said the bridge will better serve the needs of 430,000 residents in Nanxi.
By 2013, Sichuan Province still had 1,800 ferry terminals on its numerous rivers. A massive project started in the same year to replace ferries with bridges. More than 900 bridges have been to built so far to serve the needs of 10 million people. The target is to build 1,019 bridges.
By 2020, all ferry crossings with an annual passenger volume of 50,000 will be replaced with bridges in Sichuan. Total spending is over 19 billion yuan.
