On November 6, at the construction site of the new Beiyang Bridge, workers were installing corrugated guardrails on both sides of the connecting road—the final construction task before the bridge opens to traffic. The reconstruction project of Beiyang Bridge in Haiyan has now been completed and is scheduled to open to traffic this month. The completion of the new Beiyang Bridge will effectively expand the navigable space of the Hangpingshen waterway beneath the bridge, laying the foundation for developing a higher level of sea-river combined transport.

Constrained by the construction standards of early highway bridges, the old Beiyang Bridge had long ceased to meet current waterway construction standards; a bridge that once served to keep traffic flowing now restricts transportation and shipping development. For this reason, the new Beiyang Bridge was built 345 meters east of the old Beiyang Bridge, with construction starting in September 2021. The bridge has a total length of 600 meters, a width of 8 meters, and a clear height of 7 meters, and was designed to Class IV highway standards. Once the new bridge opens to traffic, demolition of the old bridge will begin immediately.

Beiyang Bridge is the fifth bridge completed under the Container Transport Corridor Project of the High-Grade Waterway Network in Northern Zhejiang. To date, the project has completed an accumulated investment of 4.24 billion yuan, accounting for 65.7% of the total investment. Through bridge jacking, reconstruction, and rebuilding, the waterway can accommodate higher-class container cargo ships, effectively resolving the bottleneck constraining the development of inland river shipping in Northern Zhejiang.