The world's heaviest swing bridge completed a successful closure after a 109-minute traction rotating at an angle of 97 degrees in China.

The 1,980 metre-long swing bridge in Zoucheng City weighs 22,400 tonnes, the heaviest in the world.



The swing bridge links both sides of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway in Zoucheng.

A swing bridge in China has completed a successful closure

The trains pass the bridge every five minutes and the electric wires are under construction over the rail tracks, making construction of the swing bridge unconventional and difficult.



"If it rotates in a shorter time, it needs a faster speed, thus posing safety risks," said Pang Jianping, vice chief engineer.



"A steel strand was dragged through the stretch-draw of the jack in order to rotate the turn-plate and the bridge was rotated to the position we designed," Mr Pang added.

Railway authorities arranged a two-hour gap of train operation for the rotating construction in order to ensure the safety of the rotating process.



The bridge is scheduled to open for traffic in March.

As a new traffic link between the east and west parts of Zoucheng, the bridge will greatly reduce pressure on urban traffic.