Hangzhou Bay Bridge is a bridge with cable-stayed bridge portion across Hangzhou Bay off the eastern coast of China. It was linked up on June 14, 2007, and connects the municipalities of Shanghai and Ningbo in Zhejiang province. The bridge is the longest trans-oceanic bridge in the world, although it does not have the longest cable-stayed main span. The opening ceremony was held on June 26, 2007 with great domestic media publicity, though after the opening ceremony, the bridge would only be used for test and evaluation purposes. It was opened to the public on 1 May 2008.

Construction of this bridge started on June 8, 2003. The bridge itself is 36 km long with six expressway lanes in two directions, making it the second-longest bridge in the world after the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in Louisiana, USA. The bridge has two main spans, with a 448 meters (1,470 ft) northern span, and a 318 meters (1,043 ft) southern span. The designated speed is 100 kilometers per hour, and the designed longevity is more than 100 years. The total investment on the bridge is RMB 11.8 billion (US$ 1.4 billion as of December 2004). 35% of this amount was raised from private companies in Ningbo, 59% was provided as loans from China’s central and regional banks. Orthotropic steel deck is used on its main spans and five ramp bridges, and is to be paved with 50 mm epoxy asphalt concrete.
History

The original plan was for the northern end of the bridge to start at Jinshan, a suburb of Shanghai. The bridge underwent different feasibility studies for a decade before it was finally approved in 2003. After opposition was raised by the Shanghai Municipal Government, however, it was shifted south to the territory of Zhejiang province. The Hangzhou Bay Bridge connects Cixi City, west of Ningbo, to Jiaxing. It cuts the distance from Shanghai to Ningbo by more than 320 km. Whereas previously the trip from Ningbo to Shanghai and southern Jiangsu involved a detour of around 400 km, the bridge reduces that distance to 80 km. The result is that Ningbo, with its port at Beilun, will be able to compete with Shanghai’s port Pudong for international sea freight.
Quotes

“The bridge has become well-known and is expected to attract visitors,” said an official. “We haven’t decided how long the trial operation period will last. That depends … on the bridge condition and we need time to improve management about its operation.”

Taking environmental protection into account, the top priority for us was to prevent the Hangzhou Bay water from being polluted,” Qiu Dongyao, Jiaxing Executive Vice-Mayor.

“There used to be a desolate beach near our village. Later, many factories were built there due to the bridge.” — Xinhua

Estimated price: 4-6.5 Lakh

Expected in July 2008

Maruti 800 started the bang and the very beloved Zen carried it forward. Wagon-R chipped in well too later on. And now that Zen has already received a make-over in the form of Estilo, it is the turn of her stable-mate, Wagon-R. Suzuki had showcased a concept based on this car in last year’s Paris Motor Show. Since then a lot of surgery has seen the Splash take its final form, the pictured of which we see here.

You will find the parts-sharing that Maruti has mastered now. The dash and the centre console shouts SX4 and Swift at its loudest. The rev counter placed on the dashboard is interesting though.

The taste is gallant and is characterized by the immense headlamps at the front. The rear is an outcome of some out-of-the-box thinking and has an inward tilt to it, something that the French have always had in their car designs.

Maruti has plenty of engines to offer this car with. A one-liter, 65bhp motor can be offered while a 1.2L engine developing close to 86PS is also on the cards. The multi-jet diesel engine of the Swift can also be considered.

This car was showcased at the Frankfurt Motor Show and Maruti would be bringing it in India by mid next year.

It seems that as 20th century brought downfall for the British empire,21 will bring for the U.S.A..While 21century will also give rise to BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) economies. Particularly Chindia (China+India), these countries have drawn attention for various other countries successfully. Many countries like America and Australia have started giving preference to these countries due to many reasons. The first and foremost reason among all is availability of cheap labour. Other reasons are favorable climate, easy availability of man-power, favorable rules and regulation etc. Then why mentality that foreign goods are good and possess better quality is still prevailing. Sometimes domestic merchandizes face identity crisis and alienation. What makes people believe that Indian goods are not up to the mark? What makes Indian products cheap over produces of others? Is it quality that makes the difference? 

Answer to above mentioned last question is yes. It is the quality that distincts her products from others. India rich country made of poor people. More than 30%of her population lives below poverty-line. No doubt that middle class has shown some progress over the last decade but that is not true measure the condition of a country as whole. Then what all companies will do to get its cost down to cater to Indian markets and for their own survival in it? Either they will have to give less quantity for more price or they will have to compromise with quality. And most of the times later viewpoint is adopted. Moreover, the population of India manifolds day by day, so that natural resources have to be used very carefully. We will have to serve to a large demand with very little resource in our hand. These all restrains do not indicate that India is unable to produce top-quality goods, but these top-quality goods can be consumed by a handful of people. So what about others? The middle-class that is forms very large part can not go for it. There is no other option available to them but to buy low quality goods. 

But now - a - days, people demand well-qualitative goods for cheaper rate. This is possible with the help of latest technological innovations and globalization. China is number one exporter to the U.S.A. due to its cheaper rate and good quality. No doubt India will see these trends as now India has opened door for globalization. But it will take sometime to improve.