A Rather Impressive Feat of Engineering by the Chinese

[74-911]

Driving over this bridge would be eye-opening to say the least and....

You can fit a lot of trolls under this bridge:

BBC - Travel - China’s impossible engineering feat

[vash]

144 million is a deal!

[rusnak]

Nah, with a coupon you can save 20% at Harbor Freight.

[stomachmonkey]

Cool bridge but I see BASE jumper magnet.

[wdfifteen]

China is going to own the world in 100 years, maybe sooner.

[Alan A]

Originally Posted by vash

144 million is a deal!

Compare to the cost of the new tappan zee bridge.

[MRM]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

China is going to own the world in 100 years, maybe sooner.

The Chinese are as capable of unlocking the secrets of science and technology as any country. But they are going to have to take over their own country before they can own the rest of the world. They have repeatedly shown they can excel when the government dedicates time and attention to a single project or issue. In some ways big infrastructure projects like this are similar to the Soviet Union's big science and technology infrastructure displays, including their space program. As a matter of fact, projects like this are probably a legacy of the Stalin/Mao days of huge state sponsored projects. Marvelous technology and achievements meant to add prestige to the entire country, but a thin veneer covering massive internal problems. None of this takes away from what they accomplished with that bridge, though.

[vash]

Originally Posted by rusnak

Nah, with a coupon you can save 20% at Harbor Freight.

dude..mineral water out the nose. thanks.

[Rinty]

Originally Posted by 74-911

Driving over this bridge would be eye-opening to say the least and....

Wow.

Thanks for posting.

It reminds me a bit of that amazing bridge that the French built over a big valley, a few years ago.

[GH85Carrera]

I hope it was not designed by the same group as this:

[tabs]

Originally Posted by MRM

The Chinese are as capable of unlocking the secrets of science and technology as any country. But they are going to have to take over their own country before they can own the rest of the world. They have repeatedly shown they can excel when the government dedicates time and attention to a single project or issue. In some ways big infrastructure projects like this are similar to the Soviet Union's big science and technology infrastructure displays, including their space program. As a matter of fact, projects like this are probably a legacy of the Stalin/Mao days of huge state sponsored projects. Marvelous technology and achievements meant to add prestige to the entire country, but a thin veneer covering massive internal problems. None of this takes away from what they accomplished with that bridge, though.

My thinking is, no they won't own the world in 100 years. The model that the Global economy is built upon is flawed and is becoming unraveled. It is kinda like building that bridges pylons on quicksand.

[rusnak]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

I hope it was not designed by the same group as this:

Good Lord!

Now they'll have to charge everyone 2nd story rent.

[vash]

there is a high rise condo building in San Francisco starting to lean..significantly.

(and i still can't afford a unit there)

[JossP80]

Not sure they're a country fueled by aspirations for world domination, nor do I think, despite an inevitable degree of ethnocentrism, any country owns the world. We're increasingly becoming a connected globe of intertwined economies.

The Chinese is a fascinating culture with remarkable advances in technology--with social and political compromises not unlike our own. The advantage of lagging behind the rest of the developing world was leap-frogging much of the early technology the first-world introduced. The result in Beijing is an experience that feels futuristic by our standards. Their subways alone is something to see for yourself. I think this bridge is an accomplishment of which they should be rightfully proud.

[flatbutt]

Impressive for sure but clearly not "impossible". Given the difficulties with voids in the stratum being present I'd guess they were high on the list of difficulty. The off structure "modular" construction was certainly a creative way to go but was the height of the canyon really the difficult part?

I'm not an engineer and have much respect for those that are but how much more difficult was the construction of this bridge compared to the Golden Gate or other big spans?