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The Danyang-Kunshan Bridge stretches for 164.8 kilometers in China and has held the record for the longest structure on the planet since 2011
In eastern China, between the cities of Danyang and Kunshan, a concrete and steel structure crosses rice fields, canals, rivers, and even an entire lake for 164.8 uninterrupted kilometers.
The Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge is the longest viaduct in the world, certified by Guinness World Records since its inauguration on June 30, 2011.
No other construction has surpassed this record in 15 years.
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The bridge is part of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway, one of the busiest lines on the planet.
To put its size into perspective, 164 kilometers is equivalent to the distance between Modena and Milan in Italy.
The Danyang-Kunshan Bridge consumed 450,000 tons of steel, enough to build 60 Eiffel Towers
The construction figures are impressive in all dimensions.
The project employed 10,000 workers simultaneously and took 4 years to complete.
The total cost reached US$ 8.5 billion.
The 450,000 tons of steel used would be enough to erect 60 replicas of the Eiffel Tower.
The average height of the bridge is 30 meters, with a maximum span of 80 meters between pillars.
In some sections, the clearance reaches 150 meters to allow the passage of large vessels.
- Length: 164.8 km (102.4 miles)
- Cost: US$ 8.5 billion
- Steel: 450,000 tons (60 Eiffel Towers)
- Workers: 10,000
- Construction: 4 years (2006-2010)
- Inauguration: June 30, 2011
Over Yangcheng Lake, 2,000 pillars support the Danyang-Kunshan Bridge for 9 kilometers of water
One of the most spectacular sections of the structure crosses 9 kilometers over Yangcheng Lake.
In this section, 2,000 concrete pillars emerge from the water to support the tracks.
The image of the pillars reflected on the calm surface of the lake has become one of the postcards of modern Chinese engineering.
In addition to the lake, the bridge crosses rivers, canals, swampy areas, and agricultural fields in Jiangsu province.
The Danyang section is 52.4 kilometers long, while the Kunshan section extends for 112.4 kilometers.
Like other megaprojects that transform entire landscapes, such as the reconstruction of entire neighborhoods in Barcelona, the Danyang-Kunshan Bridge redesigned the geography of transport in eastern China.
Trains at 350 km/h cross the Danyang-Kunshan Bridge with stability that allows balancing a coin on the table
The bridge is part of the high-speed railway connecting Beijing to Shanghai, covering over 1,000 kilometers.
Trains reach speeds of up to 350 km/h on the structure.
The stability is so precise that passengers can balance a coin on the table during the journey.
Before construction, the journey between Ningbo and Jiaxing took 4 and a half hours.
With the new line, the time dropped to just 2 hours.
The bridge was designed to withstand magnitude 8 earthquakes, typhoons, and collisions from ships up to 300,000 tons.
This combination of speed, scale, and resistance makes the Danyang-Kunshan a landmark of engineering that, like innovative construction techniques, demonstrates that engineering can overcome limits that seemed impossible.
Fifteen years after its inauguration, the Danyang-Kunshan Bridge maintains the record unchallenged
Since 2011, no construction in the world has come close to the 164.8 kilometers of the Danyang-Kunshan.
The second longest bridge, the Langfang-Qingxian, is part of the same railway line and is 114 kilometers long.
Both demonstrate the scale of Chinese ambition in transport infrastructure.
However, there are important caveats.
Some sources cite the length as “160 km” instead of 164.8 km, possibly due to rounding.
Furthermore, detailed data on the maintenance and longevity of the structure in a swampy environment are not publicly available.
The absence of primary official reports from the Chinese Ministry of Transport limits independent cost-benefit analyses.
Still, Britannica confirms the technical data, and Guinness World Records has certified the record since 2011.
The bridge remains a symbol of what 10,000 workers, 450,000 tons of steel, and US$ 8.5 billion can create when a country decides to connect its largest cities at record speed.
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