Xiamen-Kinmen Bridge enters marine construction stage

The Xiamen-Kinmen Bridge (Xiamen section) entered a new phase of marine construction on Monday morning, marked by the completion of the east tower's piling work of the Liuwudian Channel Bridge, a pivotal component of the project, in Xiamen of Fujian Province in east China.

The Xiamen-Kinmen Bridge (Xiamen section) spans 17.34 km and is designed to link the Xiamen island with the Xiamen Xiang'an International Airport that is currently under construction. The Liuwudian Channel Bridge is the province's first offshore suspension bridge and largest span bridge with a total length of 1,948 meters and a main span of 928 meters in length.

The pile foundation of the east bridge tower was completed on Monday after four months of work, while that of the west one is expected to finish at the end of this month.

Confronted with complex geological conditions and the challenge of transporting materials to the offshore construction site, the team newly built a large-scale mixing station and employed six rotary drilling rigs which operated around the clock.

With a total investment of 37.27 billion yuan (about 5.12 billion U.S. dollars), the Xiamen-Kinmen Bridge (Xiamen section) will become the most efficient connection between the Xiamen island and the Xiang'an Airport. Once completed, it will ease traffic congestion and greatly enhance transport efficiency in the region.

The Xiamen-Kinmen Bridge (Xiamen section) started construction in October 2023, and is expected to be completed simultaneously with the Xiang'an Airport Expressway in 2026.

Kinmen is an important hub for interaction across the Taiwan Strait. Growing trade and commercial links between Kinmen and Xiamen have made the building of the bridge a common desire of many people in the region.

Xiamen-Kinmen Bridge enters marine construction stage

Crew members of the Chinese Navy's destroyer Nanchang held a flag-raising ceremony on Sunday to celebrate the fifth anniversary of being commissioned.

On Jan 12, 2020, China's first Type-055 destroyer was commissioned, inheriting the hull number of the Navy's first destroyer, "101".

Throughout the five years, Nanchang has been involved in multiple missions in distant waters and open oceans.

"In one of the years, we patrolled in the island chain five times, and set sail nearly 100 times, with over half a year being on missions," said Wang Xiuyue from destroyer Nanchang.

The launch of Nanchang, an indigenous large destroyer that has a deadweight of over 10,000 tonnes, is symbolic for the navy, marking its destroyers are upgrading into the fourth generation.

"Nanchang '101' means the first. Since Nanchang was the first of its kind, we had no blueprints or materials to refer to. We explored to build it by ourselves," said Wang Zhongguang, who is responsible for securing Nanchang's electric system.

With his master electrotechnology skills, Wang is respected as an "elite soldier," an informal title to show respect to the best soldiers.

"To be an 'elite soldier' means you have to do your best all the time," said Wang.

Wang's spirit was echoed by many of the Nanchang crew members.

"I am looking forward to participating in more distant water missions with Nanchang. I hope to spend another five years with her, or even longer," said Lei Qi, a Nanchang crew member.

"I believe that to become a world-class navy, we must press ahead despite all difficulties," said Lin Xue, another crew member.

Nanchang Destroyer crew members celebrate fifth anniversary of commissioning