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Shipping under threat as bridges across Yangtze set to triple
3/13/2006
BEIJING, Mar 12 (AFP): The number of bridges spanning China's longest river the Yangtze could triple in the next decade and a half, severely hampering vital shipping to the nation's interior, state media said Sunday.
So far 39 bridges have been built across the river, but if all projects currently in the planning stage are allowed to go ahead, that figure will soar to 124 by 2020, the Xinhua news agency reported.
"This means one bridge in less than 30 kilometres across the nearly 3,000-kilometre-long trunk of the river," said Jin Yihua, director of the Yangtze River Shipping Administration.
The Yangtze is an important route for exports from central and western China, areas that have so far missed out on much of the nation's trade-fueled boom.
Altogether 795 million tonnes of cargo were shipped along the river in 2005, according to Xinhua.
"The construction of too many bridges may prevent large oceangoing ships from sailing directly to inland cities along the river," Jin told Xinhua.
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