China's Jiaozhou Bay Bridge Is Now World's Longest Bridge [Latest Pictures]

The Qingdao Jiaozhou Bay Bridge in China, which was opened on Jun 30 is now the world’s longest sea bridge.

Spanning Jiaozhou Bay of Qingdao City in Shandong Province, the bridge is 26 miles long. The bridge took the world's longest title from the 38.35 kilometer Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in the United States, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The $ 2.3 billion open sea bridge took about four years of construction which links Qingdao City in east China to the island of Huangdao. The bridge is built to withstand earthquakes and typhoons. It could also save the drive time from 40 to 20 minutes between the two destinations.

Around 18,000 cars cross the bridge daily since its opening.

Recently, the world’s longest bridge has come under focus over safety issues. In the rush to complete the construction before its formal opening on June 30, it is alleged that some important work on the bridge was left incomplete.

Several gaps were found in the crash barriers on the 42.5 kilometer Jiaozhou Bay Bridge, while bolts inserted to fasten the barriers were found to be loose or uncovered, the Shanghai Daily reported on Monday.

The Shandong High-speed Group Co, which funded the project, however, said some barriers and bolts had been removed by workers to adjust wiring, which was normal practice after a bridge is opened to traffic, Jiaodong.net reported on Monday.

Here are some pictures from the Shandong High-speed Group Co. website: