Zia Yusuf has slammed the UK’s “failure to build” anything in a post on social media. The MP, who heads the Reform UK Department of Government Efficiency, compared the recently opened Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge in China with plans to build a third runway at Heathrow Airport.
The new bridge in Guizhou, China, crosses the Beipan River and stands 2,051 feet above the canyon floor, making it the tallest bridge in the world. It was built in just four years and cuts a two-hour drive into a two-minute journey. In comparison, the third runway at Heathrow is expected to take around a decade to build, including a two-year planning phase, a year and a half for judicial reviews, and around seven years for construction.
Mr Yusuf said on X: “It’s useful to place Britain’s catastrophic bureaucracy and failure to build into context. China has just opened the world’s tallest bridge.
“It cut a 2 hour drive down to 2 min, features a theme park, a glass skywalk and a waterfall. It stands 2000 ft above the river and spans 4600 ft.
“Built in just 4 years. Meanwhile the government has guided it will take *10 years* to build a 3rd runway at Heathrow.”
He added in a second post: “People pointing out correctly that China built this in 2/3rds of the time that Hammersmith bridge has been closed.”
Another X user, Dr Lawrence Newport, also pointed out that it took 10 years to building a railway footbridge at Theale station in Berkshire. This was reportedly more expensive than the Empire State Building.
However, mega-projects such as the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge, which cost $341 million (£254 million), have a number of negative impacts, including environmental destruction. Constructing a bridge of that size in a mountainous region can significantly disrupt the natural environment.
The Guizhou region is known for its rugged terrain, with 92% of the area covered in mountains. The engineers were forced to cut through the mountains to build the bridge, and experts believe this will have a long-term effect on local ecosystems.
Although the massive bridge will improve residents’ connectivity and access to education, jobs, and healthcare, it will also create cultural change due to increased tourism in the area. Projects of these sizes also often require the demolition of homes and buildings.