Steel bridge deck pavement of Changzhou-Taizhou Yangtze River Bridge, a cable-stayed bridge with the world's largest span, was completed in east China's Jiangsu Province on Saturday.
Connecting Changzhou and Taizhou cities in Jiangsu, it is the first cross-river facility combining highway, intercity railway and ordinary roads over the Yangtze River, the world's third longest river.
The total pavement area of the upper and lower steel bridge decks exceeds 250,000 square meters, equivalent to 33 standard football fields.
The bridge sets world records for having the largest span among cable-stayed bridges and the largest span among dual-use road and rail steel truss arch bridge.
"The construction team adopted eight types of pavement structures and systems on different areas to enhance the durability of the pavement, driving comfort, and the stability of the highway and railway layer. This has enabled the application of domestically produced materials in the steel deck paving of super-long-span bridges," said Xia Pengfei, executive deputy commander of the Changzhou-Taizhou Yangtze River Bridge construction command department of Jiangsu Communications Engineering Construction Bureau.
After five years of construction, the bridge boasts a total length of 10.3 kilometers, including 5.3 kilometers of road and rail sections. And it is expected to open to traffic by the end of next April.
Mega cable-stayed bridge on Yangtze River completes steel bridge deck pavement
An increasing number of German consumers are considering buying electric vehicles (EVs) in the face of high fuel prices, according to a recent survey by the largest German online car trading platform, mobile.de.
As the Middle East tensions continue to drive up international oil and gas prices, the cost of automotive fuel has been rising steadily in many European countries.
According to fuel price data compiled by the German Association of the Automotive Industry, since the United States and Israel launched military strikes against Iran on February 28, gasoline prices in Germany have risen by nearly 20 percent, while diesel prices have shot up by more than 30 percent.
Results from a recent survey by mobile.de show that if gasoline prices remain at current high levels, 43 percent of respondents said they would switch to EVs, and 36 percent cited long-term cost savings as the most important reason for considering an EV purchase.
Additionally, the platform's data show that inquiries about used EVs surged by 66 percent in the first half of March.
"We are absolutely seeing much more interest on mobile.de for electric cars. What the German energy transition couldn't do, this current geopolitical situation has done in terms of transition to electric cars," said Ajay Bhatia, CEO of mobile.de.
In addition to high oil prices, government subsidies are also a key factor driving German consumers to consider purchasing EVs.
The German government announced the resumption of subsidies in January of this year, planning to invest 3 billion euros over the next few years to provide purchase subsidies for some 800,000 EVs.
Driven by the combined effects of high oil prices and subsidy policies, German consumers' interest in EVs has grown clearly. However, it remains to be seen whether this shift will evolve into a more sustained market trend.
"How long it will stay is anyone's guess, but at the moment we're absolutely seeing an increase, and sometimes these transitions need a catalyst. And this is definitely a catalyst that is seeing the transition to electric cars speed up," said Bhatia.
More Germans interested in buying EVs due to high oil prices: survey
