The Lupu Bridge spanning the Huangpu River in Shanghai opened to traffic Saturday.

The bridge, the first steel-arch bridge linking the Pudong New District to Puxi, is Shanghai's fourth bridge spanning the Huangpu River.

The six-lane highway bridge is 3,900 meters long, with the main bridge 750 meters. Its 550-meter span is the longest of the world's steel arch bridges.

The construction of the bridge combines the techniques used in the building of stayed-cable bridges, arch bridges and suspension bridges, said Lin Yuanpei, chief engineer of the bridge project.

Construction of the bridge began in October 2000. A total of 35,000 tons of steel were used in the project, equivalent to the materials used in building three 74,000-dwt vessels. The project was built at a cost of two billion yuan (US$240 million).

(Xinhua News Agency June 28, 2003)