World’s five longest bridges | The Indian Express

The bridge is 55 km long, including an undersea tunnel. (AP Photo)

China on Tuesday officially opened the world’s longest sea bridge linking Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China, significantly cutting the travel time from between the three territories from three hours to just 30 minutes. The 55-km-long crossing that cost a whopping $20 billion is dubbed as an engineering feat carrying economic and political significance at a time when Beijing is seen tightening its grip over its semi-autonomous territories.

But China has more reasons to celebrate. In the list world’s longest bridges, the country clearly dominates the space.

1. Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge

China retains the top spot for constructing the world’s longest bridge stretching 168.5 kilometers, 100 meters above ground level. The bridge, opened in 2011, was constructed in just four years by 10,000 workers employed for the project, the total cost being $8.5 million. The bridge has helped facilitate the Beijing high-speed railway system of the rapidly developing country, besides reducing travel time from Ningbo to Jiaxing by over a half to 2 hours from 4.5 hours. The Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge holds the Guinness World Record for the longest bridge in the world under any category.

(Wikimedia Commons)

 2.  Changhua-Kaohsiung Viaduct

The 157 kilometer-long bridge running from Taipei to Kaohsiung in Taiwan is a part of Taiwan high-speed rail network, according to The Telegraph. The bridge was designed to be earthquake resistant to allow trains to halt safely in case of a seismic event. Over 200 million people have traveled through it since 2012.

(Wikipedia)

 3. Tianjin Grand Bridge

The Tianjin Grand Bridge links Langfang and Qingxian in China to the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway, encompbading about 113 kilometers, according to Revolvy.com. It was opened in 2011.

(Wikimedia commons)

4. Cangde Grand bridge

World’s third largest bridge in railways, the Cangde Grand bridge is part of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway, according to BridgesDB.com. Stretching over 105 kilometers, the bridge was made to withstand earthquake tremors.

5. Weinan Weihe Grand Bridge

Once the longest bridge in the world, the Weinan Weihe Grand Bridge in 2008 as part of the Zhengzhou–Xi’an high-speed railway. Encompbading about 80 kilometers, the Weinan Weihe Grand Bridge crosses the Wei river twice, according to The Telegraph.

(Facebook/Civil Engineering&Architecture)

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