With the concrete beam of the last span over Mekong River put in place, the main section of Luang Prabang cross-Mekong River railway bridge has been completed on Sunday, seven months ahead of schedule.

The closure of the Luang Prabang Mekong River Super Major Bridge, one of the two cross-Mekong bridges along the China-Laos Railway, indicated that the railway project construction has made major progress.

The 1,458.9-meter bridge lies in the north of the Luang Prabang Ancient Town, some 220 kilometers north of the capital Vientiane, with five main piers including 34 spans planted in Mekong River.

According to the Laos-China Railway, the Luang Prabang cross-Mekong River bridge is a challenging task among more than 160 bridges of the railway, involving the most complicated bridge building techniques.

But Chinese engineering teams have overcome the difficulties brought by the Mekong River with its turbulent current, rapidly rising water level in rainy seasons and non-overburden riverbed. They have also overcome technical difficulties in building trestle bridge for pier construction.

According to the China Railway No. 8 Engineering Group, which is in charge of the construction of the two cross-Mekong River bridges of the railway, construction of the Ban Ladhan Mekong River Super Major Bridge is also advancing smoothly and will be completed by the end of 2019 as scheduled.

As the first overseas route connecting China's railway system using Chinese technology and equipment, the China-Laos Railway is a major project in infrastructure inter-connectivity between China and neighboring countries, and a major project in implementing the Belt and Road Initiative. Its construction started in 2016 and is expected to be operational in December 2021.

The 414-kilometer-long China-Laos railway links the Mohan-Boten border gate in northern Laos and Vientiane. Operating speed on the route is designed at 160 kilometers per hour.