A highway bridge, the fourth land route between Shenzhen, in south China's Guangdong Province, and Hong Kong, was completed on Friday.

 

The bridge, with a total length of 5,545 meters and a width of 38.6 meters, is an important part of the western thoroughfare between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, said an official with the office in charge of Shenzhen-HK western thoroughfare construction.

 

The bridge is jointly built by Shenzhen and Hong Kong at a cost of 902 million yuan (about US$111 million). The six-lane bridge is designed to accommodate vehicles with the maximum speed of 100 km per hour.

 

When the bridge is open to traffic, it will take a bus passenger 10 to 15 minutes to travel from Shenzhen to Hong Kong, the official said.

 

The entire Shenzhen-HK western corridor is expected to be finished late this year.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 21, 2006)