Photo: Chinanews.com - agency reporter He Junyi
China is a place where incredible works of construction happen in an impressively short time.
The latest superlative from China is the Beipanjiang Bridge, which was built over the gorge of the Beipan River. It is in southwestern China, and it is officially the world’s highest bridge, because it is 1,854 feet tall (565 meters) over sea level. Thanks to this construction, commuting times have been cut to a quarter for residents of remote provinces Guizhou and Yunnan.
According to People’s Daily Online, driving from Xuanwei City to Shuicheng county only takes one hour instead of four, so you can understand why this is important to the residents and tourists that have to cross the Beipan River by car. The bridge is 720 meters (2,363 feet) long, which does not make it the longest in the world, but it still is impressive.
Construction crews took three years to complete this bridge, which is a lot by Chinese standards, but entirely reasonable because it was built over a gorge. It has a reported cost of 1,023 billion yuan, which means roughly $140 million.
This bridge is part of the Huangrui Highway in China, which connects the Hangzhou city with Ruili City. The latter is on the border with Myanmar, and linking these two was essential for the country.
It is important to remark that this is just the world’s highest bridge, and not the tallest one in the world. This happens because the China structure’s tallest pylon stands at 882.5 feet (269 meters), while the French Viaduct Millau has a significantly taller structure, which is 1,125 feet tall (343 meters).
China used to hold the world record for the highest bridge even before it opened the Beipanjiang Bridge, but with the Si Du River Bridge, which is raised to a height of 496 meters (1,627 feet) above sea level. The same country has several bridges that are placed on “the world’s highest” category, and some of them are still under construction.
According to People’s Daily Online, driving from Xuanwei City to Shuicheng county only takes one hour instead of four, so you can understand why this is important to the residents and tourists that have to cross the Beipan River by car. The bridge is 720 meters (2,363 feet) long, which does not make it the longest in the world, but it still is impressive.
Construction crews took three years to complete this bridge, which is a lot by Chinese standards, but entirely reasonable because it was built over a gorge. It has a reported cost of 1,023 billion yuan, which means roughly $140 million.
This bridge is part of the Huangrui Highway in China, which connects the Hangzhou city with Ruili City. The latter is on the border with Myanmar, and linking these two was essential for the country.
It is important to remark that this is just the world’s highest bridge, and not the tallest one in the world. This happens because the China structure’s tallest pylon stands at 882.5 feet (269 meters), while the French Viaduct Millau has a significantly taller structure, which is 1,125 feet tall (343 meters).
China used to hold the world record for the highest bridge even before it opened the Beipanjiang Bridge, but with the Si Du River Bridge, which is raised to a height of 496 meters (1,627 feet) above sea level. The same country has several bridges that are placed on “the world’s highest” category, and some of them are still under construction.
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