Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, one of China's famous places of interest, will be closed for 27 months for repairs, starting on Friday next week.

The double-decked bridge, opened in 1968 in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, received leaders from more than 100 countries and regions, and more than 600 foreign delegations from 1970 to 1993.

As China's first self-designed and constructed road and rail truss bridge, it was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest bridge with the dual functions of highway and railway. In 2014, it was listed as one of the Immovable Cultural Relics under State protection designated by the State Council.

According to Guo Jian, deputy director of the Nanjing Public Project Construction Center, the bridge carries about 100,000 vehicles every day, which greatly surpasses its designed capacity.

"The lane boards of the bridge have cracked in many places," Guo said. "Mortar bedding cushions have fallen apart and metal fatigue is appearing on the steel."

"Since 2002, the bridge has been repaired 12 times. It is the first time that the bridge has been completely closed for repair because its safety issues pose a risk to the railway on the lower deck and the vehicles on the upper deck."

"During maintenance, all broken parts of the bridge will be changed or fixed," said Zhang Guoqiang, an official at the relics protection department of the city's Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television.

"Relics experts have been invited to design a specialized plan to protect the bridge," he said.

According to the local transportation department, commuters can cross the river by subway, bus or ferry. Vehicles can use the Yangtze River Tunnel and the No 2, No 3 and No 4 Yangtze River Bridges to bypass the bridge.

(China Daily 10/25/2016 page4)