Some pictures from northern Zhengzhou, Henan province.
This nice lake is scheduled for complete development, whereupon it will be surrounded by roads and apartment blocks. Ground-breaking hasn't started yet, but they have started to lay out the roads to the area.
The highway interchange to serve the area appears below:
The construction zone lay across my path, so I walked through. Halfway along, I met a woman pushing her baby in a stroller around all the operating heavy equipment. The policy about venturing through a construction site in China appears to be: it's okay as long as you stay out of our way and don't come crying to us if you get hurt.*
Eventually I found my way through to the completed roadway, where my pleasant stroll continued.
At the complex interchange between Beihuan Rd. and Huayuan Rd., I got turned around somehow; and instead of ending up at home, I would up at some American pub, drinking beer.
* Yes, I think that is a fine policy
This nice lake is scheduled for complete development, whereupon it will be surrounded by roads and apartment blocks. Ground-breaking hasn't started yet, but they have started to lay out the roads to the area.
The highway interchange to serve the area appears below:
The construction zone lay across my path, so I walked through. Halfway along, I met a woman pushing her baby in a stroller around all the operating heavy equipment. The policy about venturing through a construction site in China appears to be: it's okay as long as you stay out of our way and don't come crying to us if you get hurt.*
Eventually I found my way through to the completed roadway, where my pleasant stroll continued.
At the complex interchange between Beihuan Rd. and Huayuan Rd., I got turned around somehow; and instead of ending up at home, I would up at some American pub, drinking beer.
* Yes, I think that is a fine policy
Man, those last few pics look awe-inspiring, and I build that stuff for a living.
ReplyDeleteBut let me tell you, the capital cost to replace all those decks 30 years from now is going to be insane. Then in 50-60 years they have to replace the decks again, along with all the piers.
That's going to provide quite the incentive for China to develop teleportation or flying cars or something.
Part of their plan seems to be to let a lot of the population run along on scooters and bicycles. Would that reduce the wear on the bridges?
ReplyDeleteTraffic volumes have an effect, yes. But weather and salt are big determinants too. But whether it's 30 years or 60, at some point these Chinese cities will all run into the same problem Toronto is facing with the Gardiner - how do you replace a vital piece of infrastructure when replacement cost has skyrocketed beyond what you originally paid.
DeleteThey really allow bicycles and scooters on raised freeways? Wow. Then again, isn't part of the Chinese program to improve wealth til their people can all afford cars? And in any case, left to itself, traffic always eventually expands to fill its container, just like a gas, and for the same reason.