Russia and China are connected: first bridge between the neighbours is joined together

The long-awaited bridge more than one kilometre long connects the Russian city of Blagoveshchensk, and  Heihe, a key border city in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

It is the first bridge linking the two countries.

Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East, Alexander Kozlov, said on Friday that the bridge ‘should be fully constructed in December 2019’ paving the way for an opening in April 2020.

'The connection of the Russian and Chinese parts of the bridge across the Amur River is an historical moment,’ he said. 

‘This is not just a new transport route between Blagoveshchensk and Heihe, which will certainly give a powerful impetus to the development of trade relations and tourism. 

‘The first bridge between Russia and China is a symbol of friendship between our peoples, trust, a symbol of aspiration for the future.' 

Steel girders that can withstand temperatures as low as minus 60 degrees Celsius were used by Chinese and Russian builders in the frigid region, together with 60,000 sets of steel bolts with ‘high weatherability’, reported China’s news agency Xinhua.

Heihe and Blagoveshchensk face each other across the river and ’as China opens its door wider to the world, the two cities see more vibrant people-to-people exchange and trade ties’, stated the report.

The highway bridge was first proposed in 1988 before the fall of the Soviet Union.

Passenger flow between the two cities is expected to reach 1.4 million by 2020, triple the current figure. 

Cargo volume will see a 10-fold increase to 3 million tonnes.

Strangely official figures from Russia say the bridge is 1,080 metres in length while the official Chinese media measure it at 1,284 metres.

Its width is 14.5 metres. 

The bridge is linked to a new 19.9 km stretch of highway. 

Most of the new roadway is in Russia.

Chief Engineer of the company Most (Bridge) Nikolay Rogov said: 'The name of the river from Chinese means 'black dragon'. 

‘And a dragon always behaves unpredictably and aggressively to those who underestimate him. 

'It is impossible to tame him - you have to live in harmony with him. We did it.

'Here the main difficulty, of course, is the river itself. 

‘The water drop at the construction site reaches 10 metres in winter and summer. 

‘During our construction, the maximum was 6 metres. We had to take all this into account.’