Construction will begin in November on a bridge spanning Zhanjiang Gulf off the southern coast.

The 4.51-kilometer bridge is part of a 75-kilometer highway upgrade starting from Huangpo Town in Wuchuan, Guangdong Province, and ending at the juncture of national highway 207 and the industrial highway of Leizhou.

Preliminary designs for the highway upgrade have been approved by a panel of some 100 specialists, including experts from China Railways, the Bridges Surveys and Designs Institute and from Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Communications.

The entire highway project will cost 1.88 billion yuan (US$227 million) and will be built by Guangdong Provincial Highways and Bridges Construction and Development Co. and Zhanjiang Transport, Highways and Bridges Industrial Development Co.

The Zhanjiang Gulf Bridge and the feeder road extending to Huangpo will be built at a cost of 1.24 billion yuan in the first phase.

( eastday.com July 24, 2002)