Combo photo shows an aerial view of the Pingtang Bridge in southwest China's Guizhou Province, Dec. 30, 2019 (upper), the bridge in construction on Sept. 20, 2019 (middle) and the construction site on Sept. 25, 2018. With the highest concrete bridge tower in the world, Pingtang Bridge in southwest China's Guizhou Province on Monday opened to traffic, according to local authorities. Located in Bouyei-Miao Autonomous Prefecture of Qiannan, the bridge, a colossal cable-supported viaduct that spans 2,135 meters across a canyon, will serve as a major connection on the Pingtang-Luodian Expressway. A total of 1.5 billion yuan (about 215 million U.S. dollars) was invested into the construction of the bridge. The opening of the bridge will reduce the travel time between Pingtang and Luodian from over two and a half hours to about one hour, and will facilitate poverty alleviation in the rocky desertification areas of Guizhou and nearby Yunnan Province as well as Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Yang Wenbin)
