(Source: Gizmodo via Telegraph)

Image Courtesy: Gizmodo.com

At 26.4 miles long, the Qingdao Haiwan Bridge would easily cross the English Channel and is almost three miles longer than the previous record-holder, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in the American state of Louisiana. The vast structure links the centre of the booming port city of Qingdao in eastern China‘s Shandong Province with the suburb of Huangdao, spanning the wide blue waters of Jiaozhou Bay.

Here is a collection of some amazing and interesting factoids gleaned from the parent articles cited above:

• You can easily run a marathon, entirely on the bridge span, and still will have 0.2 miles left before you set foot on Terra Firma (Marathon = 26.2 miles)
• Built in just four years at a cost of £5.5 billion ($8 Billion USD)
• Will feature a six-lane road bridge that is supported by more than 5,200 columns
• When it opens to traffic (in late 2011) , the bridge is expected to carry over 30,000 cars a day
• Expected to cut the commute between the city of Qingdao and the sprawling suburb of Huangdao by between 20 and 30 minutes.
• At least 10,000 workers were involved in building the bridge, in shifts around the clock
• Built with 450,000 tons of steel, which is roughly the equivalent of steel used in almost 65 Eiffel Towers
• 2.3 million cubic meters of concrete, which is roughly the equivalent of filling 3,800 Olympic-sized swimming pools
• The bridge will be strong enough to withstand a magnitude 8 earthquake, typhoons or the impact of a 300,000 tonne vessel.
• With its economy growing by 16 per cent a year, Qingdao is one of China’s fastest-growing and most prosperous cities.
• The main port of the Chinese navy and home of Tsingtao Beer, China’s best-known brew, it hosted the sailing events of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

What’s more astonishing. It would be this: “China is already home to seven of the world’s 10 longest bridges, including the world’s lengthiest, the 102 mile Danyang-Kunshan rail bridge, which runs over land and water near Shanghai.  And with Beijing pumping billions into boosting China’s infrastructure, the Qingdao Haiwan Bridge will not be the world’s longest sea bridge for very long.  According to the Telegraph,  work started in December 2009 on a 31 mile bridge that will link Zhuhai in southern Guangdong Province,  China’s manufacturing heartland, with the financial centre of Hong Kong. The £6.5 billion project is expected to be completed in 2016.”

Now, building the infrastructure at this break neck pace and still flush with more cash than a machine can count, China is not too far from becoming the Numero Uno aka the Big Daddy of the World economy.

Related articles

• China builds world’s longest bridge (telegraph.co.uk)
• China has built the longest bridge in the world… so you don’t have to dig that hole (engadget.com)
• World’s longest bridge completed (thesun.co.uk)
• China claims longest bridge over water with whopping 26-mile span (dvice.com)

(Source: Wall Street Journal)

The first clear pictures of what appears to be a Chinese stealth fighter prototype have been published online, highlighting China’s military buildup just days before U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates heads to Beijing to try to repair defense ties.

The photographs, published on several unofficial Chinese and foreign defense-related websites, appear to show a J-20 prototype making a high-speed taxi test—usually one of the last steps before an aircraft makes its first flight—according to experts on aviation and China’s military.

China was probably several years behind Russia, whose first stealth fighter, the Sukhoi T-50, made its first flight in January 2010, but that Beijing was catching up faster than expected.

The Chinese prototype looks like it has “the potential to be a competitor with the F-22 and to be decisively superior to the F-35,” said Mr. Fisher. The J-20 has two engines, like the F-22, and is about the same size, while the F-35 is smaller and has only one engine.

China’s stealth-fighter program has implications also for Japan, which is considering buying F-35s, and for India, which last month firmed up a deal with Russia to jointly develop and manufacture a stealth fighter.

Editor’s Note: This development is not only a challenge to the American dominance and technological superiority in the world of military aviation but also a test (and a considerable threat) to many of so-called China’s regional adversaries, especially the ones noted above – Russia, Japan and India.  Anyone aware of the regional geopolitics in South Asia can likely expect China to pass along the technology (at the least, sell these stealth fighters) to its regional-ally Pakistan in the decades ahead, to counter India’s edge with the joint-production of a stealth fighter using Russian technology.  This will not only up the “heat” at a regional level, but will further push the two nations, as well as the entire region, towards another wave of arms buildup. Though there is no mention of the high-altitude capability of this stealth fighter, it would be interesting to watch how China would deploy these fighters along its disputed border regions with India to guard against any threats from the Tibetan side.  Also, the capability of this new war machine to operate from a sea-borne platform (aircraft carrier, which China is building) would definitely test the power balance between the US and the Chinese in the South China Sea. Above all, I believe this development will encourage other nations to accelerate their own efforts to build a stealth fighter.

Related articles

• China prototyping J-20 stealth fighter? (panasianbiz.com)
• Photographs reveal secret J-20 Chinese stealth fighter (culturalhealth.blogspot.com)
• China media report mystery stealth fighter photos (sfgate.com)
• Chinese J-20 Stealth Fighter Pictures Leak (VIDEO) (blippitt.com)
• China media report mystery stealth fighter photos (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Photos of China’s Stealth Fighter Emerge (newser.com)
• Photos of Stealth Chinese Fighter Jet Emerge (patspapers.com)
• China Leaks Pictures Of New Stealth Bomber On Internet [Picture] (realestateradiousa.com)
• U.S. officials cast doubt on China stealth jet reports (nationalpost.com)
• East Chases West: China’s Stealth Fighter, Japan’s Own GPS (fastcompany.com)
• “China Now Has A Stealth Fighter, Aircraft Carrier And “Aircraft Carrier Killer” Missiles” and related posts (businessinsider.com)
• China has a prototype stealth fighter (nextbigfuture.com)
• Chinese Fighter Photos Up Ahead of Gates Visit (foxnews.com)
• A Stealth Challenge? (online.wsj.com)

(Source: AFP via Yahoo)

A Chinese passenger train hit a record speed of 302 miles per hour (486 kilometers per hour) Friday during a test run of a yet-to-be opened link between Beijing and Shanghai, state media said.

The Xinhua News Agency said it was the fastest speed recorded by an unmodified conventional commercial train. Other types of trains in other countries have traveled faster.

A specially modified French TGV train reached 357.2 mph (574.8 kph) during a 2007 test, while a Japanese magnetically levitated train sped to 361 mph (581 kph) in 2003.

State television footage showed the sleek white train whipping past green farm fields in eastern China. It reached the top speed on a segment of the 824-mile (1,318-kilometer) -long line between Zaozhuang city in Shandong province and Bengbu city in Anhui province, Xinhua said.

Click here to read the entire article.

Note: I can’t help myself marvel at how different the conditions are for High Speed Rail deployment in two different ends of the globe – China vs. USA.  Here is a story that outlines how a  political game played in Washington is wreaking havoc to any chances of deploying a successful high-speed rail network.  While American politicians are embroiled in petty politics, Beijing’s communist rulers have already bought into he value of investing in such a network, especially with an exploding demand for transportation in the decades ahead as the nation’s wealth increases, and are determined to show their commitment to a successful, wide-spread deployment.  It makes one thing clear  – we in the West are not really lacking in ideas and ambitions; our pitfalls (and therefore the poor performance in a competitive economy) are in our inability to come together and look at common good beyond party lines. Somehow we managed to convince, not just the nation but the entire world, a $744+Billions war  (an utterly unprovoked and unnecessary war whose costs are still climbing at a giddying pace) is worth bleeding for in terms of national security.  But somehow we are not willing to look past our differences to come together and execute a project that is only going to make us better. Why are our politicians adamant to not realize that such modern infrastructure projects are good for our nation’s economic security in the long run? Oh well, its gotta be the Democracy that we are trying to export as a successful model.

Related articles

• China passenger train hits 300 mph, breaks record (sfgate.com)
• China Unveils World’s Fastest High Speed Train (huffingtonpost.com)
• China Passenger Train Breaks World Record (abcnews.go.com)
• China claims new passenger train speed record (ctv.ca)
• Chinese passenger train sets new world speed record after reaching 302mph (dailymail.co.uk)
• imabonehead: China passenger train hits 300 mph, breaks record – Yahoo! News (news.yahoo.com)
• Chinese train sets speed record, Xinhua reports (cnn.com)
• Chinese passenger train breaks world speed record (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Chinese passenger train breaks world speed record (foxnews.com)
• Chinese passenger train reaches 302mph, claims speed record for unmodified trains (engadget.com)

(Source: CNN)

You thought you had a bad time on the road? Wait till you see this one and start thanking all the gods that are out there.  Here are some snippets about this epic, mother of all traffic jams that ever happened on Earth.

The gridlock, which started August 14, involves thousands of trucks between the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and the Chinese capital of Beijing.

The back-up stretches over 62 miles on the Beijing-Tibet Expressway. What’s worse, officials are saying that the jam could continue for up to a month (Sept. 13, the projected completion project for some of the projects causing this delay).

Reason cited: “Insufficient traffic capacity on the National Expressway 110 caused by maintenance construction since August 19 is the major cause of the congestion,” a Beijing Traffic Management Bureau spokesman told the Beijing-based Global Times.

Other undesired outcomes borne from this mess: Bored drivers playing cards to pass time, and enterprising local vendors doling out instant noodles for as much as 4-times the actual cost.

If this is not interesting enough, China continues to add 10-million vehicles to its already exploding traffic on the roads.  It will be interesting to see how the Chinese manage their economic wealth while battling the traffic mess around their mega cities.

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• China Traffic Jam on Beijing-Tibet Expressway Goes on For 9 Days (nowpublic.com)
• Drivers trapped for nine days in Chinese traffic jam (news.nationalpost.com)
• China’s Nine-Day Traffic Jam Tops 62 Miles (idle.slashdot.org)
• Are we there yet? China traffic jam ‘into ninth day’ (bbc.co.uk)
• Epic traffic jam in China leaves drivers stuck for 9 days (cnn.com)
• Going Nowhere: Traffic Jam Enters Ninth Day (news.sky.com)
• Traffic Jam Stretches Over 60 Miles, Nine Days [Traffic] (gawker.com)
• China Traffic Jam Enters 9th Day, Spans Over 60 Miles (huffingtonpost.com)
• Chinese drivers sit it out in 9-day traffic jam (cnews.canoe.ca)
• 62-Mile Traffic Jam in China Enters 9th Day (blippitt.com)
• 9-day Epic Traffic Jam in China Might Last for a Month (pamil-visions.net)
• Worst traffic jam ever? Gridlock spans 60 miles (msnbc.msn.com)
• 100-km Chinese traffic jam enters Day 9 (cbc.ca)

(Source: Reuters & The Transport Politic)

China and Argentina have agreed to invest about $10 billion over several years to renovate the Latin American country’s dilapidated railway system and build a subway for its second-largest city. Funds come from the China Development Bank and will require a 15% match from the Argentinian government.

The $10B breaks down as follows:

Argentina will receive $4.35 billion to renovate three freight railroad lines, including $1.85 billion to improve conditions on the Belgrano Line, which links the country to Bolivia and is an important link for the nation’s agricultural producers.  Argentina’s once-extensive rail network was largely dismantled during the privatisations of the 1990s. But as agricultural output soars, farmers and grain elevators — who send more than 80 percent of grains by costly road transport — have been calling for investment to revive the railways.

Road transport costs about 7 U.S. cents per tonne per kilometre in South America’s No. 3 economy — about twice the cost of rail cargo and four times what it costs to transport grains by boat, according to the grains exchange in the country’s biggest agricultural port, Rosario.

More than four billion dollars for the improvement of the Buenos Aires Subway and the creation of a four-corridor Metro in Cordoba — projects.

China in recent years has been dipping into its deep pockets to fund infrastructure projects in poor and emerging economies that bolster relations and often further Beijing’s own economic goals by helping bring goods and raw materials to market faster.  I’d not be surprised if the Chinese are looking to export their rail technology to not just the developing parts of the world but also to advanced economies such as the USA.  The world better learn fast how to say Ni Hao!

Click here to read more.

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• China splashes billions on Argentine rail, subway (reuters.com)
• China to Invest $10B in Argentina’s Railways (abcnews.go.com)
• China to invest $10B in Argentina’s railways (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• China signs deals to $10B invest in Argentina’s railways but no progress on soy dispute (taragana.com)
• China to invest $10B in Argentina’s railways (sfgate.com)
• Argentina Is Latest Country To Outsource Its Infrastructure To China (businessinsider.com)

(Source: Tree Hugger)

Image Courtesy: Bombardier

Image Courtesy: Bombardier

Tree Hugger reports that the estimated $4 billion US (or 2.7 billion euros) is only part of China’s grand $300B dream. Another recent article on  TreeHugger outlined the grand plan to invest over $300 billion in high-speed rail through 2020, in a bid to speed ahead of the rest of the world’s train systems. Here are some excerpts from today’s interesting TreeHugger article.

The Chinese Ministry of Railways has announced that it will buy 80 “very high speed trains” from Bombardier’s Chinese joint ventre Bombardier Sifang to add to China’s fast-growing network of high-speed rail. The ZEFIRO 380 trains are both very efficient (more on that below) and very fast, and should help make transportation in China greener, especially if train trips displace plane trips.

The order is for 20 eight-car trainsets and 60 sixteen-car trainsets, for a total of 1,120 cars.

The ZEFIRO 380 has a maximum operating speed of 380 kilometers per hour (236 miles per hour) and is designed for efficiency:

The Bombardier press release notes ” The new trainsets will be an integral part of an evolving high speed rail capability in China, which is developing more than 6,000 km of new high speed lines to create one of the most advanced high speed rail networks in the world. The trains, with maximum operating speeds of 380 kph, are based on Bombardier’s next-generation ZEFIRO high speed rail technology, and powered by a highly energy efficientBOMBARDIER MITRAC propulsion and control system.

Image Courtesy: Bombardier

The ZEFIRO 380 trainsets will also incorporate Bombardier’s advanced ECO4 energy saving technologies to create best-in-class energy and operating efficiencies. Bombardier launched its ECO4 technology package in 2008 as part of an ongoing focus to extend rail’s position as the most sustainable form of transportation in the world. Bombardier is first in the industry to create a new formula for total train performance with a portfolio that can create substantial overall energy savings of up to 50%.”

The ZEFIRO 380 trains will be manufactured at Bombardier Sifang (Qingdao) Transportation production facilities in Qingdao, China. Engineering will take place in Qingdao and at Bombardier centers in Europe with project management and components provided from sites in Europe and China.

What the heck is USA doing?

If you are wondering what is the status of the US high-speed rail development program, here is your answer.  We are waaaaaaaay behind many of our counterparts that are already engaged in the HSR programs .  The Europeans (French with their TGVs  & Germans with their ICE trains) and the Japanese have been at the forefront of HSR for decades and have built excellent systems that are capable of traveling at ~250MPH speeds.  New comers such as Spain and China have blazed new paths and surged ahead of the US and have embarked on ambitious plans, backed by huge  government funding commitments.  Heck, even the oil-rich Saudi Arabia is forging ahead with its development of brand new HSR lines cutting across the sandy deserts connecting major cities.  Recently, the Russians also got on this track and have quickly sought Spain’s help in building their HSR lines.  While the rest of the world is surging ahead, the US Government is still wrangling over its plans of where to invest the $8Billion funding. The US HSR Association states “Our vision is for a 21^st century, 17,000 mile national high speed rail system built in 4 phases, for completion by 2030″.  Realistically speaking, this goal seems far fetched at this point, especially with the glacial pace of activity at the Federal level.

Click here to read the entire article. Also, click here to see more pictures of these new toys China is buying from Bombardier.

(Source: Fortune Magazine via CNN Money)

Images via Apture

When lunch break comes at the construction site between Shanghai and Suzhou in eastern China, Xi Tong-li and his fellow laborers bolt for some nearby trees and the merciful slivers of shade they provide.

Image Courtesy:Fortune

It’s 95 degrees and humid — a typically oppressive summer day in southeastern China — but it’s not just mad dogs and Englishmen who go out in the midday sun.

Xi is among a vast army of workers in China — according to Beijing’s Railroad Ministry, 110,000 were laboring on a single line, the Beijing-Shanghai route, at the beginning of 2009 — who are building one of the largest infrastructure projects in history: a nationwide high-speed passenger rail network that, once completed, will be the largest, fastest, and most technologically sophisticated in the world.

Creating a rail system in a country of 1.3 billion people guarantees that the scale will be gargantuan. Almost 16,000 miles of new track will have been laid when the build-out is done in 2020. China will consume about 117 million tons of concrete just to construct the buttresses on which the tracks will be carried. The total amount of rolled steel on the Beijing-to-Shanghai line alone would be enough to construct 120 copies of the “Bird’s Nest” — the iconic Olympic stadium in Beijing.

The top speed on trains that will run from Beijing to Shanghai will approach 220 miles an hour. Last year passengers in China made 1.4 billion rail journeys, and Chinese railroad officials expect that in a nation whose major cities are already choked with traffic, the figure could easily double over the next decade.

Construction on the vast multibillion-dollar project commenced in 2005 and will run through 2020. This year China will invest $50 billion in its new high-speed passenger rail system, more than double the amount spent in 2008. By the time the project is completed, Beijing will have pumped $300 billion into it.

This effort is of more than passing historical interest. It can be seen properly as part and parcel of China’s economic rise as a developing nation modernizing at warp speed, catching up with the rich world and in some instances — like high-speed rail — leapfrogging it entirely.

Last November, as the developed world imploded — taking China’s massive export growth and the jobs it had created with it — Beijing announced a two-year, $585 billion stimulus package — about 13% of 2008 GDP.

Infrastructure spending was at its core. Beijing would pour even more money into bridges, ports, and railways in the hope that it could stimulate growth and — critically — absorb the excess labor that exporters, particularly in the Pearl River Delta, were shedding as their foreign sales shrank more than 20%.

At a moment when the developed world — the U.S., Europe, and Japan — is still stuck in the deepest recession since the early 1980s, China’s rebound is startling. And the news comes just as Washington is embroiled in its own debate about whether the U.S. requires — and can afford — another round of stimulus, since the first one, earlier this year, has thus far done little to halt the downturn. Tax cuts made up about one-third of the $787 billion package, and only $60 billion of the remaining $500 billion has been spent so far.

Proponents of more stimulus are likely to cite China’s example of what a properly designed stimulus program can accomplish. Maybe so. But a closer look at China’s high-speed rail program also reveals some risks that should factor into the “Why can’t we do that?” debate that’s surely coming in Washington.

Last year China Railway Construction Co., the nation’s largest railroad builder, hired 14,000 new university graduates — civil and electrical engineers mostly — from the class of 2008. This year, says Liang Yi, the vice CEO of the CRCC subsidiary working on the Beijing-to-Shanghai high-speed line, the company may hire up to 20,000 new university grads to cope with the company’s intensifying workload. But with the private sector cutting way back on hiring — and university students desperate for work — taking on that many new engineers and managers hasn’t been too difficult.

Consider that the Northeast Corridor, between Boston and Washington, D.C., is served by Amtrak’s Acela train, which clips along at a stately average speed of 79 miles an hour. There’s a lot of talk now, as part of President Obama’s stimulus plan, about upgrading the system and building new, faster lines all across the nation. In his stimulus bill Obama has allocated $8 billion over three years for high-speed rail, and 40 states are now bidding for the funds, with results to be released in September. Among the possibilities, California wants to link San Francisco with L.A. via a high-speed link. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) wants the private sector to get into the act, proposing a high-speed spur to connect Las Vegas with L.A.

Click here to read the entire article.