Design sketch of the Salvador Bridge Photo: Courtesy of China Railway 20th Bureau Group Co

 
A joint venture of China Railway 20th Bureau Group Co and China Communications Construction Co signed a contract to build a cross-sea cable-stayed bridge in Salvador with the Brazilian state of Bahia on Thursday, meaning the construction of the largest such bridge in Latin America will kick off. 

Located in Salvador, the capital of Bahia state in Brazil, the Salvador Bridge is designed to be 46.8 kilometers long.

One of the highlights of the bridge will be the 12.4-kilometer cross-sea section, with the main tower topping up at 205 meters and a maximum span of 450 meters. 

The depth of water in the area reaches 60 meters. 

Design sketch of the Salvador Bridge Photo: Courtesy of China Railway 20th Bureau Group Co

 
The construction difficulties involved in this project are highly unusual. For instance, the requirement for the construction of the thin-walled hollow pier, of only 30 centimeters, is extremely high, China Railway 20th Bureau Group Co told the Global Times on Thursday. 
 
Bahia Governor Rui Costa said that the construction of the Salvador Bridge project has been a long-cherished wish of the local people, the Chinese company said in a statement. 

The bridge will facilitate the reconfiguration of the layouts of the Gulf of Bahia and the state of Bahia, and benefit 45 cities and 4.4 million people, Costa noted. 

As an important passage connecting Salvador and Itaparica, the Salvador Bridge will shorten the travel time between the two places from two hours to only 25 minutes. 

Contract signing ceremony between the joint venture of China Railway 20th Bureau Group Co and China Communications Construction Co and the Brazilian state of Bahia on Thursday Photo: Courtesy of China Railway 20th Bureau Group Co

 
Itaparica Island, which has suffered from development restrictions for a long time, will not only become a transportation center connecting the north and south parts of Bahia, it will also experience new development opportunities in the fields of transport, tourism, and civil engineering construction.

The project is the largest investment in a bridge by Chinese firms in South America under the public-private partnership mode so far, the company noted. 

The contract was signed on site and via a virtual conference amid the pandemic, with the participation of Chinese Ambassador to Brazil Yang Wanming, Costa, deputy chairman of China Railway Construction Corp (the parent company of China Railway 20th Bureau Group Co) Wang Wenzhong, and other officials.