The Yiling Bridge over the Yangtze River, China's longest waterway, was put into service Friday after three years of construction work.

The fourth such bridge near the Three Gorges Project site in Yichang City, central China's Hubei Province, is 3,246 meters long and 23 meters wide, with a span of 936 meters.

Engineers say the style of the suspension bridge, which is considered as the city's symbolic architecture, conforms to the city's unique culture.

The total cost of the bridge is 610 million yuan (US$ 73).

( People's Daily December 29, 2001)