The first bored pile of a rail-road bridge was drilled into sea in Pingtan on July 13, marking the start of the offshore construction of the project.

Previously, workers had hammered in 1,060 steel pipe piles at a large offshore platform as well as building a 2.6-km trestle bridge to accommodate the construction of the Pingtan Haixia Rail-Road Bridge linking Changle county and Pingtan.

A bored pile is a type of reinforced concrete pile which is used to support high buildings which carry heavy vertical loads. It is popularly used in the construction of foundations, especially for bridge work and tall buildings.

The Pingtan Haixia Railroad Bridge will be a 16.3-km cross-sea bridge. The upper level of the bridge will include a two-way six-lane highway, and the lower level will feature a double-track railway.

The cross-sea rail link is part of the 88-km Fuzhou-Pingtan railway. It will start from Songxia Port in neighboring Changle county, stretch southeast over the Yuanhong channel, the Guyumen channel, Changyu Island, Xiaolian Island, the Xiaolian-Dalian island channel, Dalian Islet, Haitan Strait, and finally reach Suao town on Pingtan Island.