The Xihoumen Bridge (simplified Chinese: 西堠门大桥; traditional Chinese: 西堠門大橋) is a suspension bridge built on the Zhoushan Archipelago, the largest offshore island group in China. The main span was completed in December 2007. ^[1] The entire bridge, along with Jintang Bridge, was opened to traffic on a test basis on 25 December 2009. ^[2] It is the second-longest suspension bridge ranked by the length of the centre span. The opening date was put off because of a ship collision on 16 November 2009 that slightly damaged the side of Jintang Bridge.

The Xihoumen Bridge under construction (2007)

The 5.3-kilometre-long suspension bridge connection has a 2.6-kilometre-long main bridge with a central span of 1,650 metres. The approaches total 2.7 kilometres. When it opened, there was only one bridge with a larger span, the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge in Japan. However, there are several other bridges planned or under construction that will also be larger.

The bridge was built by the province of Zhejiang, at a cost of 2.48 billion yuan (approximately US$363 million). Construction began in 2005, and the first traffic crossed the bridge on 25 December 2009, at 11:58 p.m., local time.

The Xihoumen Bridge links Jintang and Cezi islands. Another bridge, the 27-kilometer-long cable-stayed Jintang Bridge, links Jintang Island and Zhenhai of Ningbo. The two bridges are the second phase of a huge project started in 1999 to link the Zhoushan Archipelago to the mainland with five bridges. Construction of the other three bridges has been completed.

Sumber : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xihoumen_Bridge