MAJOR construction started yesterday on a new elevated expressway to link the Hongqiao Central Business District and National Exhibition and Convention Center with downtown, as well as to help relieve traffic congestion in north Shanghai.

It also marks the first overall application of the “prefabricated method” on a single urban construction project in the city, which is being widely promoted to cut air pollution and noise during construction, the Shanghai Transport Commission said.

A crane lifted a 9-meter-tall concrete pillar for the “entry section” of the S26 Expressway into position at the construction site on Jidi Road in Minhang District, while workers assembled the 95-ton supportive pillar onto the foundation work.