Construction of the world's tallest bridge is progressing rapidly. At twice the height of the Eiffel Tower, it will be an engineering milestone.
Last week, China recently completed the main structure of the world's tallest suspension bridge, located in the country's southwest Guizhou province.
The Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge, with an impressive 625 meters of vertical height from the deck to the surface of the river, is almost twice the height of the Eiffel Tower.
This monumental work promises to revolutionize regional connectivity, reducing the time to cross the canyon from almost an hour to just a few minutes.
- The $100 Billion Megacity That Became an Epic Failure Before It Was Even Completed
- The Forbidden City in Beijing: One of the largest palaces in the world with 9.000 rooms and an unbelievable value of US$70 billion!
- 7 years older than the Pyramids of Egypt — Discover the details of humanity's oldest construction
- The underground city where people live in tunnels surrounded by million-dollar jewels
Completion of the main structure
The final stage of the main structure was completed with the installation of the last steel beam, weighing approximately 215 tons.
The feat was celebrated by China Railway Group and China Railway Baoqiao, main companies involved in construction.
According to Wu Chaoming, senior engineer on the project, the use of the world's largest span cable hoisting system was essential to the successful completion of the assembly.
The sophisticated system includes intelligent transport, hoisting and monitoring technology, ensuring precision and safety to handle the structure's large weights and spans.
Dimensions and investments
With a total length of 2.890 meters and a main span of 1.420 meters, the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge will also be the longest span bridge in the world. world in a mountainous region.
The load-bearing steel truss structure consists of 93 segments, which together weigh 22.000 tons — equivalent to two Eiffel Towers. The total cost of the work is estimated at US$280 million, as reported by Newsweek.
To date, 80% of the main construction has been completed. The next phase of the project involves the installation of panel segments between the trusses, with the opening scheduled for the second half of 2025.
The project is led by Guizhou Transportation Investment Group Co Ltd and is part of a broad infrastructure development plan in the region.
Technical and environmental challenges
The construction of the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge faced several challenges due to the complex local geography.
The Guizhou Mountains, located between the Yunnan Plateau and the Lower Yangtze Valley Plain, features complex geomorphology and geology, known as Castel geomorphology.
The Swedish company Alimak, which supplied equipment for the project, highlighted the difficulties related to constant climate changes and temperature differences between day and night, which can result in severe weather conditions and intense winds.
In addition to its impressive engineering impact, the bridge promises to bring significant improvements to the local economy.
The new connection is expected to strengthen tourism and trade ties between neighboring cities such as Guiyang and Anshun, stimulating economic growth and infrastructure development. The regional economy is expected to benefit from increased mobility and reduced commute times.
Comparison with other bridges
The Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge surpasses the current record holder, the Beipanjiang Bridge, also located in Guizhou province, in height.
The Beipanjiang, which opened in 2016, is located 565 meters above the Beipan River and connects the provinces of Guizhou and Yunnan. It is as tall as a 200-story skyscraper and is often shrouded in clouds, offering spectacular views.
With four traffic lanes, the new Huajiang Bridge not only surpasses the Beipanjiang in height, but also in bearing capacity and technological advancements, providing a more efficient and safe crossing for drivers.
Investment in Chinese infrastructure
The completion of the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge represents a significant milestone for Chinese and global infrastructure.
The structure not only symbolizes China's innovation capability, but also serves as a model for future engineering projects in regions with complex geography.
Through this advancement, it is expected that new bridges and transport infrastructure will be planned with even more sophisticated technologies, contributing to the socioeconomic development of the region and encouraging other countries to invest in large-scale engineering solutions.
With information from News.CN
Our country also needs these structures to boost our development. These constructions reduce distances and generate savings for the country, reducing the import of oil and other products such as truck and car parts.
It would first be necessary to maintain the bridges that are falling down.