On September 29, it was learned from the Nanning Municipal Transport Bureau that the S514 Nanning Jiangxi to Tanluo Highway has successfully passed the completion acceptance inspection and will officially open to traffic across its entire length on September 30. The project's controlling engineering component, the Zhongleng Zuojiang Bridge, will also be put into service simultaneously, bringing a definitive end to the more than sixty-year ferry era at Zhongleng Ferry Crossing and eliminating a bottleneck in cross-river transportation in western Nanning.

The Zhongleng Zuojiang Bridge. All images in this article are provided by the Nanning Municipal Transport Bureau. It is understood that the S514 Nanning Jiangxi to Tanluo Highway has a total length of 26.3 kilometers. It is a major project coordinated and advanced by the autonomous region and also part of the ordinary national and provincial trunk highway upgrading initiative for the New Western Land-Sea Corridor. The opening of the project further improves the ordinary highway network in western Nanning, strengthens interconnectivity between townships in Jiangnan District and Xixiangtang District, and enhances the traffic capacity of national and provincial trunk highways serving the New Western Land-Sea Corridor.

The Zhongleng Zuojiang Bridge, serving as the project's "throat" engineering component, has a total length of 690 meters. Its main bridge adopts a 115-meter + 210-meter + 115-meter prestressed concrete continuous rigid-frame structure, making it the longest-span continuous rigid-frame bridge among ordinary national and provincial highways in Guangxi.

The Zhongleng Zuojiang Bridge. Before the opening, residents on both banks of the Zuojiang River—in Jiangxi Town of Jiangnan District and Tanluo Town of Xixiangtang District in Nanning—relied on the Zhongleng Ferry for cross-river travel. Suspensions during flood seasons and detours around the river were long-standing pain points affecting residents' travel and the transport of agricultural products. "In the past, crossing the river depended on the ferry. When floods or heavy fog occurred, services were suspended, making it very inconvenient to transport fruit and vegetables to market. Now that the bridge is open, we can cross the river at any time," residents along the route said with emotion.

With the completion and commissioning of the Zhongleng Zuojiang Bridge, both banks now have all-weather, safe cross-river passage. Travel time between the two areas has been greatly shortened, effectively reducing the transportation costs of agricultural products such as fruits, vegetables, and livestock, and clearing the way for distinctive rural products to reach outside markets. In addition, the highway connects distinctive cultural and tourism resources along the route, including Yangmei Ancient Town and Xialeng Ancient Port, helping to promote the integrated development of agriculture, culture, and tourism in the areas it passes through.