Editing Yangtze (section)

==Crossings==
{{Main|Bridges and tunnels across the Yangtze River|Yangtze River power line crossings}}
{{GeoGroup|article=Yangtze River bridges and tunnels|articlee=Yangtze River bridges and tunnels}}
Until 1957, there were no bridges across the Yangtze River from [[Yibin]] to Shanghai. For millennia, travelers crossed the river by ferry. On occasions, the crossing may have been dangerous, as evidenced by the ''[[Zhong'anlun Monument|Zhong'anlun]]'' disaster (October 15, 1945).

The river stood as a major geographic barrier dividing northern and southern China. In the first half of the 20th century, rail passengers from Beijing to Guangzhou and Shanghai had to disembark, respectively, at [[Hanyang District|Hanyang]] and [[Pukou]], and cross the river by steam ferry before resuming journeys by train from [[Wuchang Railway Station|Wuchang]] or [[Nanjing West Railway Station|Nanjing West]].

After the founding of the People's Republic in 1949, Soviet engineers assisted in the design and construction of the [[Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge]], a dual-use [[list of road-rail bridges|road-rail bridge]], built from 1955 to 1957. It was the first bridge across the Yangtze River. The second bridge across the river that was built was a single-track railway bridge built upstream in Chongqing in 1959. The [[Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge]], also a road-rail bridge, was the first bridge to cross the lower reaches of the Yangtze, in [[Nanjing]]. It was built after the [[Sino-Soviet Split]] and did not receive foreign assistance. Road-rail bridges were then built in [[Zhicheng]] (1971) and Chongqing (1980).

Bridge-building slowed in the 1980s before resuming in the 1990s and accelerating in the first decade of the 21st century. The [[Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge]] was built in 1992 as part of the [[Jingjiu railway|Beijing-Jiujiang Railway]]. A [[Second Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge|second bridge in Wuhan]] was completed in 1995. By 2005, there were a total of 56 bridges and one tunnel across the Yangtze River between Yibin and Shanghai. These include some of the longest [[suspension bridge|suspension]] and [[cable-stayed bridge]]s in the world on the Yangtze Delta: [[Jiangyin Suspension Bridge]] (1,385 m, opened in 1999), [[Runyang Bridge]] (1,490 m, opened 2005), [[Sutong Bridge]] (1,088 m, opened 2008). The rapid pace of bridge construction has continued. The city of Wuhan now has six bridges and one tunnel across the Yangtze.

A number of [[Yangtze River power line crossings|power line crossings]] have also been built across the river.

<gallery widths="220px" heights="150px" perrow="4">
File:Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge-1.jpg|[[Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge]], the first bridge crossing Yangtze, was completed in 1957.
File:First Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge.JPG|The [[Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge]], a beam bridge, was completed in 1968.
File:Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge.jpg|The [[Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge]], an arch bridge, was completed in 1992.
File:Yichang Yangtze Highway Bridge.JPG|The [[Yichang Bridge|Yichang Yangtze Highway Bridge]], a [[suspension bridge]] near the Gezhouba Dam lock, was completed in 1996.
File:Sutong Yangtze River Bridge.JPG|The [[Sutong Bridge|Sutong Yangtze River Bridge]], between [[Nantong]] and [[Suzhou, Jiangsu|Suzhou]], was one of the longest [[cable-stayed bridges]] in the world when it was completed in 2008.
File:Caiyuanba bridge.jpg|The [[Caiyuanba Bridge]], an arch bridge in Chongqing, was completed in 2007.
File:Bridge on the Yangtze River in Anqing Anhui China-2.jpg|The cable-stayed [[Anqing Yangtze River Bridge]] at Anqing, was completed in 2005.
File:Route Map of Wuhan Metro Line 2.svg|[[Line 2 (Wuhan Metro)|Wuhan Metro Line 2]] is the first underground rail line crossing the Yangtze River.
</gallery>