China builds Spaghetti overpass, a world marvel

Nazeer Waris

China has been on a marvel building spree for some years. It has unveiled a pretty mindboggling overpass which has 20 ramps intertwined over five levels and connecting three major expressways.

It is called Huangjuewan Overpass. It is the world's most complicated overpass. Such overpasses are called Spaghetti Interchange. The Spaghetti interchanges are overlapping mass of roads that resemble—you guessed it—a plate of spaghetti.

People who have seen it have expressed shock, amazement and concern. Amazement, because it is so complex one is not able to decipher where the labyrinthine roads begin and where do they end.

Concern, because one fears he would get lost if he climbs a ramp that is not right. Going back to the original point would require several circuitous movements.

Chongqing is pronounced ‘Chong-Ching’. It is one of the four municipalities that are directly administered by the central government of China. Other three are Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin.

Situated on the Yangtze River, it is the fourth largest Chinese city in terms of urban population. The region's population is 30 million. A little more than half the people live in the city itself.

It is a leading car and motorcycle manufacturing centre with Changan Automotive Corp, Lifan Hongda Enterpise and Ford Motor Company units located here.

Around 20 leading universities operate from the city. The city boasts of the world's largest monorail network. With so many bridges crossing the Yangtze and Jialing rivers in the urban area, Chongqing is sometimes known as the 'Bridge Capital of China'.

The first important bridge in urban Chongqing was the Niujiaotuo Jialing River Bridge, built in 1958. The first bridge over the Yangtze river was the Shibanpo Yangtze River Bridge (or Chongqing Yangtze River Bridge) built in 1977.

Even aerial tramway crosses the two rivers at several points in the town. The Huangjiuwan took five years to plan and seven years to construct.