Construction of the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge began on January 1960 and finished on December 1968. It was constructed from beginning to end by the Chinese. Engineering of the abutment piers was extremely difficult because the Yangtze River is wide here and the rapids reach three meters per second.

The bridge consists of a 6,772-meter-long railway section and a 4,589-meter-long highway section. The section over the river is 1,577 meters long. According to the Guinness Book of Records, it is the longest double-deck bridge in the world.

The 97.6-meter-long bridge head consists of a 10-story twin towers, each measuring 70 meters in height, 17 meters in length and 11 meters in width. Downstairs in the main hall is a 7.5-meter-high statue of Mao Ze-dong.