![](https://www.globalconstructionreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/River_Bridge_3.jpg)
The government of Hubei Province in central China has devised an unusual solution to the problem of running a road through mountainous terrain.
It wanted to link the town of Gufuzhen in Xingshan county to the main highway running between Shanghai and Chengdu in south-western China.
Before, the journey took an arduous hour through mountain roads.
But by building a new road on a bridge that runs 10.5km down the middle of the Xiangxi River, they were able to cut the journey to 20 minutes.
The solution cost $71m, and avoided the need to build tunnels along the route, Hubei authorities said, claiming this minimised the environmental impact of the road.
![](https://www.globalconstructionreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/400river_bridge_2.jpg)
They’re calling it China’s first "river highway", and hope it will draw tourists to experience driving down a river.
Photograph: Building the road down the length of the river was preferred to digging tunnels (People’s Daily/www.news.cn)