48-year-old bridge on Yangtze River to undergo major repair

The Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, the first ever China-designed bridge on the Yangtze, will be closed for a major overhaul.

The maintenance project for the bridge in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, will begin on October 28 and last for 27 months, at cost of about 1.09 billion yuan (161 million U.S. dollars), said the Nanjing municipal government on Friday.

Built in 1968, the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge has a double layer structure. The upper layer is used for highway traffic and is 4,589 meters long and 15 meters wide, while the lower layer is used for trains and is 6,772 meters long and 14 meters wide.

The bridge is one of the longest in China and a landmark structure in Nanjing. It was hailed as an engineering miracle upon its completion.

However, the traffic flow on the bridge is greater than the designed capacity of the bridge, and it needs to be upgraded accordingly. Since 2002, the bridge has undergone 12 small to moderate repairs, but problems with the highway section have not been thoroughly solved.

The restoration work will strengthen the structural safety of the bridge and ensure it lasts longer, while keeping its original appearance, the government said.

While the bridge is closed, vehicles can either use the second Nanjing Yangtze bridge, completed in 2001, or use the tunnels that also cross the river.