Construction of the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge began in 1973 but due to work stoppages, the bridge was not completed until 1993.[2] The bridge was originally designed to carry trucks weighing up to 30 t (33 short tons).[2] In 2008, the tonnage limit was raised to 55 t (61 short tons).[2] In November 2011, a crack was discovered in the bridge's steel structure and forced the authorities to close the bridge to freight traffic.[3] In February 2012, the tonnage limit was lowered to 20 t (22 short tons).[2]