ZHENGZHOU, May 16 (Xinhua News) -- The first four-lane railway bridge over the Yellow River, China's second longest, was put into operation on Friday, replacing a two-lane construction which had been in service since 1960.The new bridge in Zhengzhou, capital of central Henan Province, is about 100 meters away from the old one. The 2,200-meter-long bridge is resistant to big floods and has a life span of 100 years, said Cheng Xiang'en, a local railway bridge official. Transfer from the old bridge to the new one caused suspension to the Beijing-Guangzhou railway for four hours 30 minutes and affected 45 trains. Two lines of the bridge are for Beijing-Guangzhou railway while the other two are for intercity trains between Zhengzhou and Jiaozuo, a city in Henan. The designed speed for trains from Beijing to Guangzhou on the new bridge is 160 km per hour, compared with 110 km per hour for passenger trains and 55 km per hour for cargo trains on the old bridge. The designed speed for Zhengzhou-Jiaozuo intercity trains on the bridge is 250 km per hour. Operation of the new bridge will boost capabilities, said Li. Construction of the bridge began in October 2010.
