When it is completed in 2008, Hong Kong's 1600m-long cable-stayed Stonecutters Bridge will become one of the world's longest single-span cable-stayed bridges. The bridge, which crosses the entrance to Hong Kong harbour, will have a main span of 1018m.

In order to protect this strategic structure from seismic, wind actions and traffic braking loads, it has been designed with two sets of four 8000kN shock transmission units. During the dynamic action predicted under normal loads, these units are designed to provide a very stiff connection between the deck and the pylons. A specially-designed hydraulic circuit connects all the units installed at the same pylon and enables them to react simultaneously during the dynamic event to avoid torque effects in the bridge structure. The system is also designed to minimise the reaction from slow movements induced by the deck thermal expansion and to prevent unexpected overloads.

Some time at the end of the month, depending on water levels, a dramatic spectacle will take place during a three-day closure of the river Danube just downstream from Budapest. The 312m-long, 162m-high steel tied arch span of the new Dunaujvaros Bridge will be manoeuvred into place across the river using a system of barges, anchors and strand jacks.

The new crossing of the river will form part of the M8 motorway, which is planned to be Hungary's main east-west link connecting Austria and Romania directly through the middle of the country. From end to end the structure, which consists of two approach viaducts over the flood plain, and the central arch span, measures 1,683m, and is being built using a variety of different techniques.

Launching of the deck for the approach viaducts was completed earli