The world’s highest bridge that cost £111m and is double the height of The Shard | World | News
China is known around the world for its ambitious construction projects.
This includes the Beipanjiang Bridge, also known as Duge Bridge, a four-lane cable-stayed bridge that connects the provinces of Guizhou and Yunnan in southern China.
The huge structure spans the gorge of the Nizhu River – and it is the highest bridge in the world, sitting 565m (1,854 ft) above the bottom of the void below.
For context, The Shard in London is just over 300m tall, meaning you could nearly fit the monument underneath the Duge Bridge twice over.
The Duge Bridge forms part of China’s huge £200billion Expressways Network, a network of roads that has been developed since 1988 and now has a total of 110,000 miles of tarmac.
Costing £111million to build on its own, the bridge is one of the more spectacular parts of the network.
The Duge Bridge is the highest in the world, and its eastern tower is among the tallest towers – measuring 269m (883 ft).
However, the Duge Bridge looks set to lose its status as the world’s tallest.
The Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge in the Guizhou Province is set to become the new number 1, and it is nearing completion date of June 2025.
The bridge is 2,051 feet – or 625 metres – above the ground. It is also 2,890 metres long and spans 1,420 metres.
The Guizhou province is home to nearly half of the world’s 100 highest bridges.
Ouyang Song, head of the engineering section of the Huajiang project, said: “Guizhou boasts lots of bridges, which have brought me opportunities and challenges.”