Basic information about Pingtan Strait Bridge

The total length of the Pingtan Strait Bridge is 4,976 meters, of which the cross-strait bridge is 3,510 meters long. The entire line is constructed in accordance with Class II highway standards, with a design speed of 80 kilometers per hour, two-way four lanes, and the design load of bridges and culverts adopts Highway Class I standards. The designed maximum navigation water level of the bridge is 4.78 meters, and the navigation clearance height is not less than 38 meters. It adopts double holes for one-way navigation and can navigate 5,000-ton sea vessels. The total investment of the project is more than 1.1 billion yuan, and the total construction period is three and a half years. It was put into trial operation on November 30, 2010.

After the State Council promulgated the "Several Opinions on Supporting the Acceleration of the Development of the West Coast Economic Zone" in May 2009, the Fujian Provincial People's Government clearly mentioned in the revised "Western Strait Development Outline" that the construction of the West Coast Economic Zone should be accelerated. Fuzhou (Pingtan) Comprehensive Experimental Zone has injected new impetus into the construction of the Pingtan Strait Bridge and laid a solid foundation for the accelerated completion and opening of the Pingtan Strait Bridge. The Pingtan Strait Bridge, the first truly cross-sea bridge in Fujian Province, was officially completed and opened to traffic. At this point, Pingtan County, the closest county to Taiwan in mainland China, has officially ended the history of entering and exiting via ferry. The official opening ceremony of the Pingtan Strait Bridge will be held on New Year's Day in 2011, and the opening ceremony of 12 major projects including the Aoqian Passenger Roller and the Second Strait Bridge will be launched at the same time. By then, Pingtan's open development will enter a new climax!

According to the Fujian Provincial Department of Transportation, the Pingtan Strait Bridge starts from Xiaoshandong, Donghan Town, Fuqing City, crosses the Haitan Strait, passes through Bei Lantau, and ends at Pingtan Niang Palace. The total length of the project route is 4975. 92 meters, of which the total length of the bridge is 3,510 meters, and the two sections of the bridge are connected to roads of 1,465.92 meters. The project is constructed as a two-way two-lane, with a bridge deck width of 17 meters, a designed driving speed of 80 kilometers per hour, and navigation standards based on 5,000-ton sea vessels.

Pingtan Island (also known as Haitan Island) is the largest island in Fujian. It is the "maritime corridor" of the Taiwan Strait and the Minjiang River estuary. Its east side is only 68 nautical miles away from Hsinchu, Taiwan. Due to the residents Access to the island has long relied on ferries, and the traffic bottleneck is very obvious.

The Fujian Provincial Department of Transportation said that the Pingtan Strait Bridge project officially started construction on February 27, 2008, and was completed and opened to trial traffic on November 30, 2010. It was completed nine months ahead of schedule. Since the 4-lane Pingtan Strait Bridge cannot fully meet the needs of Pingtan's open development, Fujian Province decided to build an extension line of Yuping Expressway. Construction officially started on September 28. The planned construction period is 3 years. After completion, it will be connected with the Pingtan Strait. The bridge forms a two-way 6-lane highway entering and exiting Pingtan Island.

The expressway from Yuxi Town, Fuqing City, Fuzhou to Pingtan was completed at the same time. According to reports, the Yuxi-Pingtan Expressway is the main channel connecting the Pingtan Comprehensive Experimental Zone and Fuqing City to the Shenhai Expressway. Construction started on December 19, 2008, with a total length of 41 kilometers and a total investment of 4.575 billion yuan. .

The Fujian Provincial Department of Transportation stated that the completion of the Pingtan Strait Bridge and Yuping Expressway has ended the history of Pingtan’s nearly 400,000 residents being able to enter and exit Pingtan Island only by ferry, fundamentally solving the constraints. The traffic bottleneck problem in Pingtan's economic and social development is of great significance to improving Pingtan's investment environment, accelerating the development and opening of Pingtan Comprehensive Experimental Zone, and improving Fujian Province and the national trunk highway network. In the past, you had to wait in long queues at the pier to wait for the ferry, which could take as little as half an hour and as long as two or three hours. The Pingtan Strait Bridge is open to traffic, making transportation very convenient! In eastern Fujian, there is an island that resembles the mythical beast Qilin "dancing" in the Taiwan Strait, which is the main island of Pingtan County. Pingtan County is the county closest to Taiwan Province in mainland China. The main island, Haitan Island, is the fifth largest island in my country and the largest island in Fujian. Despite its special geographical location, rich island resources, and charming tourist scenery, transportation bottlenecks are very obvious. For a long time, the abnormal relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have affected the construction and economic development of Pingtan County. After the reform and opening up, the new Taiwan policy improved cross-strait relations, and Pingtan County's economic construction also entered the track of normal development. It achieved rapid growth during the "Eighth Five-Year Plan" and "Ninth Five-Year Plan" periods, and the traffic volume in and out of the island also increased rapidly. Increased to 1,200 vehicles/day. Car transportation in and out of the island still relies on ferries, and poor transportation conditions have seriously restricted the economic development of Pingtan County. The construction of the Pingtan Strait Bridge to directly connect Haitan Island to the mainland has become an urgent need for Pingtan County's economic development and people's lives.

In October 2005, the Pingtan Strait Bridge project, a dream of 390,000 people in Pingtan, was approved by the National Development and Reform Commission! This marks a breakthrough in the preparatory work for the project and the preparatory work of the project has begun.

In fact, the people's joy has already reached a climax - when they learned that the Strait Bridge was approved by the state, the people of Pingtan spontaneously set off fireworks and firecrackers to celebrate. That night, the entire Pingtan County was in a sea of ??joy. middle.

“Pingtan people’s desire for bridges can be said to be passed down from generation to generation.” Yu Zhaoqiang said that as an island, transportation between Pingtan and the mainland still relies on ferries, which is very inconvenient. This has become an important reason restricting Pingtan's economic development - foreign investment is unwilling to enter the island, and economic development is slow.

Pingtan people’s efforts to build a cross-sea bridge have never stopped. As early as 1991, Pingtan County began planning and construction of the bridge. After formally proposing the construction of the Pingtan Strait Bridge in October 1992, Pingtan County successfully carried out many preliminary tasks such as establishing a bridge construction committee and inviting relevant universities and scientific research units to conduct seabed geological surveys and feasibility studies.

In August 1994, the Fujian Provincial Planning Commission and the Provincial Foreign Economic and Trade Commission carried out the provincial project approval work for the Pingtan Strait Bridge foreign-invested project. In December of the same year, through a national bidding process, China Communications Construction Highway Planning and Design Institute (formerly the Highway Planning and Design Institute of the Ministry of Communications) and the Fujian Provincial Transportation Planning and Design Institute were selected as the design units of the bridge. In June 1995, the project feasibility study report was completed, and Pingtan County signed a bridge construction contract with Hong Kong Yihua Company.

However, since the project was only approved at the provincial level at that time, the required funds were not guaranteed, and considering that the traffic flow in and out of Pingtan was not large at that time, the investment could not be recovered in the short term, and the risk was high. As a result, Hong Kong Yihua Company broke the contract, causing the cooperation to "come to an end without any problem."

In 1998, the Fujian Provincial Government adopted the method of domestic and foreign investment cooperation and made the Pingtan Strait Bridge a key investment project. It reached a cooperation intention with the French GTM Group, and the Fujian Provincial Transportation Planning and Design Institute and others completed the " Preparation of "pre-approval" report (foreign investment project). However, after many inspections, the French GTM Group did not have much confidence in the traffic flow of the Pingtan Strait Bridge and the economic development prospects of Pingtan, and finally chose to withdraw. The bridge not only solves Pingtan's traffic problems, but also greatly promotes Pingtan's economic development. After the bridge is opened to traffic, Pingtan's former overseas residents and outflow private capital will return, and Pingtan's attractiveness to foreign investment, which is rich in tourism and marine resources, will also be greatly enhanced. This boost to Pingtan's economy is immeasurable.

Infrastructure: It is understood that electricity in Pingtan is mainly transmitted to the island through submarine cables, and electricity prices remain high. The price of industrial electricity is 0.7 yuan/kWh, and the price of residential electricity is 0.8 yuan. /Spend. If the bridge is completed, the cost of living and industry in Pingtan Island may drop; at the same time, the supply of electricity and fresh water will also be fully guaranteed. After basic problems such as roads, water, and electricity are solved, tourism, industry, and foreign trade will also develop greatly.

Tourism: Pingtan Island is a national key scenic spot, receiving 200,000 tourists annually and generating total tourism revenue of approximately 90 million yuan. After the bridge is opened to traffic, the annual tourist reception is expected to rise to at least 1 million.

Industry: Pingtan’s industrial development is quite backward. There are only more than 20 industrial enterprises above designated size in Pingtan. In 2004, the industrial output value above designated size was only 280 million yuan, far lower than that of other districts and counties in Fuzhou. Due to inconvenient transportation, it is also difficult for Pingtan to attract investment, and it has almost become a forgotten "desert island" for investment. Without the support and drive of industry, it would be difficult for local residents to obtain more employment opportunities, and Pingtan County's tax and fiscal revenue would not be able to increase significantly. "This situation will definitely change after the bridge is completed," Guo Jiaqiang is very sure of this.

Trade with Taiwan: "After the completion of the bridge, Pingtan will also have great potential in trade with Taiwan." Guo Jiaqiang said. Pingtan is the only county in Fujian Province with two Taiwanese ship berthing points. Small-scale trade with Taiwan was once very prosperous. During the peak period, 195 Taiwanese ships docked in one month. With the increase of Taiwan ship berths in other cities in the province, Pingtan's trade volume with Taiwan has been on a downward trend. According to an official from Pingtan’s Taiwan Affairs Office, after the bridge is completed, Pingtan’s advantages in trade with Taiwan will reappear.

Not only that, the construction of the Pingtan Strait Bridge will play a great role in solving transportation problems between other islands and land in Fujian Province. Wu Changnan said that most of the islands in Fujian Province have inconvenient external transportation, and the experience in the construction of the Pingtan Strait Bridge may provide reference for solving this problem.

From the perspective of developing cross-strait relations, the significance of the construction of the Pingtan Strait Bridge certainly extends beyond Pingtan County and even beyond Fujian Province. Professor Wu Zhiming of the 21st Century Development Research Institute of Tsinghua University, who proposed the idea of ??building a Taiwan Strait Tunnel, said in Fuzhou a few days ago that the expressway from Beijing to Taipei has been included in the "Future National Expressway Vision Plan" proposed by the Ministry of Transportation, and the Pingtan Strait Bridge can be seen It is an important part of the century-old project of the Taiwan Strait Channel and can play a major undertaking role. The Pingtan Strait Bridge will make Pingtan Island another gathering, processing, warehousing and transshipment base for import and export goods in the "Golden Triangle" economic circle of the Minjiang River Estuary, and the cargo flow will greatly increase. The approval of the Pingtan Strait Bridge project can actively promote cross-strait economic and trade exchanges and common development.