Crosses Yangtze River Height 70 m Total length 1,576 m Opened 1968 | Clearance below 24 m Construction started 18 January 1960 | |
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Carries Beijing–Shanghai Railway Nanjing–Xi'an Railway Nanjing–Qidong Railway Shanghai–Wuhan–Chengdu High-Speed Railway National Highway 104 National Highway 205 National Highway 312 Owner People's Government of NanjingShanghai Railway Bureau Similar Second Nanjing Yangtze, Wuhan Yangtze River Brid, Nanjing Fuzimiao, Dashengguan Yangtze River Brid, Sun Yat‑sen Mausoleum | ||
The Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge (Chinese: 南京长江大桥; pinyin: Nánjīng Chángjiāng Dàqiáo) is a double-decked road-rail truss bridge across the Yangtze River between Pukou and Xiaguan in Nanjing, China. Its upper deck is part of China National Highway 104, spanning 4,588 metres (15,052 ft). Its lower deck, with a double-track railway, is 6,772 metres (22,218 ft) long, and completes the Beijing-Shanghai Railway, which had been divided by the Yangtze for decades. Its right bridge consists of nine piers, with the maximum span of 160 metres (525 ft) and the total length of 1,576 metres (5,171 ft). The bridge carries approximately 80,000 vehicles and 200 trains per day.
The bridge was completed and open for traffic in 1968. It was the third bridge over the Yangtze after the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge and the Chongqing Baishatuo Yangtze River Bridge. It was the first heavy bridge designed and built using Chinese expertise.
Suicide site
The Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge has surpassed the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge as the most popular suicide site in the world, with more than 2,000 suicides estimated by 2006. The majority of those who commit suicide at the bridge come from outside of Nanjing. Precise statistics are unknown, as many bodies are never recovered and police do not include among the total deaths people who have jumped off the bridge, only to miss the water and hit the riverbanks below. Police records from 2007 showed that 100 to 200 people are "rescued or restrained" each year on the bridge.
A local man, Chen Si (Chinese: 陈思), has been hailed as a hero for saving the lives of more than 300 people planning to jump off the bridge. Since 2004, Chen has devoted his free time to patrolling the bridge to help anyone in distress, including follow-up phone calls for support and offering them a place to stay in his extra bedroom.
A feature documentary has been made about Chen Si and some of the people he has saved. It also goes into some of the reasons why so many people come here to try and end their lives. The film, titled Angel of Nanjing, has won several awards.