Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge in China’s Guizhou province is the tallest in the world – and has shortened a journey that once took two hours to just a couple of minutes
The world’s tallest bridge has opened to the public – cutting the time it takes to cross from two hours to just two minutes.
China’s Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge in Guizhou province is truly vast, clocking in at twice the height of the Eiffel Tower and nine times higher than the Golden Gate Bridge in the US.
The record-breaking structure spans a massive canyon and is almost as tall as China’s tallest building, the 632-metre, 128-story Shanghai Tower.
The structure will save locals hours, reducing what was once a long, winding drive that took almost two hours to navigate the canyon to just a couple of minutes.
The bridge, which spans the vast canyon in the mountainous region, took three years to construct and used advanced technologies such as satellite navigation and drones. The bridge’s “smart cables” – fibre-optic sensors embedded in the main cable – allow for continuous monitoring of stress, temperature and humidity, ensuring the structure’s long-term durability.
Now the world ’s tallest bridge soars 2,050 feet over the Beipan River offering dizzying views of the countryside below when it is not wreathed in cloud.
The gargantuan structure is almost a mile long with huge steel reinforcements weighing 215 metric tons. Officials have said it will help connect the remote region of Guizhou to the rest of the country, providing a boost to economic development.
Chen Jianlei, deputy director of Guizhou Transport Department told China Daily: “The completion of the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge will strengthen economic ties between [neighbouring cities] Guiyang, Anshun and Qianxinan, fostering regional economic integration.”
Seeing the incredible project come to fruition has given the chief engineer on the record-breaking bridge project “a profound sense of achievement and pride,” he said.
The main deck of the bridge, which cost £227 million and was started in 2022, is made up of 93 segments weighing a collective 22,000 tons – or three times the weight of the Eiffel Tower.
These were constructed one at a time, as the roadway gradually extended over the yawning canyon a third of a mile below.
The bridge steals the title of world’s tallest from another Chinese construction, the Beipanjiang Bridge in Guizhou province around 200 miles north of the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge.
The Beipanjiang Bridge was finished in 2016 and soars 1788 feet over the Beipan River supporting four lanes of traffic.
Meanwhile the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge is set to become a tourist attraction in its own right, with a covered glass walkway, complete with glass floors, allowing visitors to get a stomach-churning view of the drop below.
For those wanting to get even higher, one of the bridge’s massive tower supports has a glass-covered elevator built onto the outside to take tourists to the dizzying heights at the very top of the structure.
A complex has been constructed atop the bridge with a cafe and observation hall. The 207-meter-tall sightseeing elevator can reach the top in just one minute allowing visitors to enjoy a coffee at a café perched 800 meters above the river.
It is being billed as China’s first-ever bridge-tourism fusion complex, combining sightseeing, adventure sports and travel services into one exciting destination.
Guests will be able to take part in activities such as the “sky balance beam,” bungee jumping and low-altitude skydiving, cgtn.com reports.