The world’s tallest bridge will finally open to traffic this summer in Guizhou, south-west China. Guizhou province is a mountainous area of China, with complex terrain that has put the Asian country’s engineers to the test.
The Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge will connect Liuzhi Special District and Anlong Special District via a crossing some 2,051 feet above river level. This is an incredible 947 feet taller than the current tallest bridge record holder – the Millau Viaduct in France. The new bridge crosses the Huajiang Grand Canyon, also called the “earth crack.”
According to Guizhou local state media, construction of the bridge began in January 2022 and is due to be finished on June 30, 2025.
Currently, travel time over the Huajiang Grand Canyon takes around two hours, via winding mountainous roads. However, when the bridge opens, it will slash travel times to just one minute, revolutionising travel for locals.
The bridge is an impressive 656 feet taller than the Eiffel Tower and weighs nearly 22,000 metric tonnes – three times heavier than Paris’s iconic landmark.
It is a steel truss suspension bridge with a total length of 9,482 feet. Current estimates suggest an eyewatering £216 million has been spent on the bridge’s construction.
Yet, simply crossing the bridge is not the only thrill seeking on offer. It will also be home to the largest bungee jump in the world, where the walkway reaches a maximum of 2,020 feet above the Beipan River below.
China has a nationwide push to improve its infrastructure, especially in underdeveloped mountainous areas like Guizhou, which lies 800 miles west of Shenzhen city. Today, nearly half of the world’s 100 tallest bridges are found in the province.
“At present, the overall progress of the bridge has reached 95%, and it is planned to be opened to traffic in the second half of 2025,” Zhang Shenglin, chief engineer of Guizhou Highway Group, told the state-run newspaper China Daily.
“By then, this super project that spans the ‘earth crack’ will be the world’s first in both directions. It will become another landmark project to demonstrate China’s infrastructure strength.”