Proposed back in 2013, China opens their newest engineering masterpiece on August 9th 2015. Locals have been referring to it as the “Over-Water” highway. It’s the first eco-friendly highway built over water in China and boasts beautiful scenic views spanning a 10.9km distance around the country’s mountainous Hubei Province landscape. A 4.4km section of the highway was built over the river valley and connects to the G42 express highway which links Shanghai to Chengdu.
When deciding the route for the newly proposed highway one of three routes was possible. Two of them would involve tunneling through the mountains and devastating the neighboring woodlands and ecosystems. In the end the decision was made to proceed with the third choice or “the road less traveled” and involved a ton of ingenuity. Taking this route would require the construction of a 4.4 km viaduct to carry the highway over the water, through the valley and around the mountains. This part of the new roadway does not fail to impress travelers with stunning views of the surrounding mountain peaks, communities, and river.
The final budget for the over-water highway project was 4.4 million Yuan (US$700,000) and the cost of the viaduct section used up approximately 45% of that at 2 million yuan (US$320,000).
The new roadway shortens the distance for motorists and takes 40 minutes off the existing travel time turning a boring hour-long commute into a 20 minute picturesque gallop. The Highway links Xingshan County in Hubei to the G42 Expressway which is a high speed route connecting Shanghai in East China to Chengdu in Southwest China.
It’s an exciting step forward for China’s highways that will save travelers valuable time with a much improved view in an innovative and Eco-friendly way.
