Construction of the Pingtan Haixia Rail-Road Bridge, China's first cross-sea rail-road bridge, took another step toward completion with its first steel truss being put in place Monday.

The Pingtan Haixia Rail-Road Bridge will be a 16.3-km connection between the capital of Southeast China's Fujian province, Fuzhou, and the island city of Pingtan off the coast of the Taiwan Strait.

With an estimated investment of 10.9 billion yuan ($1.7 billion), it will greatly shorten the traffic time between the two cities after opening to traffic a year later as scheduled.

The bridge has two layers, with the upper level carrying a six-lane highway and the lower bearing a double-track railway.

The cross-sea rail link is also an integral part of the 88-km Fuzhou-Pingtan railway, which starts from Songxia Port in neighboring Changle county and reachs Su'ao town in Pingtan.

A crane lifts the steel truss to move it close to the pier. [Photo/Xinhua]

The first steel truss is put in place on Monday, marking a significant step towards the completion of the Pingtan Haixia Rail-Road Bridge. [Photo/Xinhua]