The construction of the main structure of the world’s tallest bridge has been completed in China. The suspension bridge in southwestern Guizhou province is almost twice the height of the Eiffel Tower. 

Expected to open in the latter half of 2025, the 2,890-metre bridge has a span of 1,420 metres. Image: X/China.

It measures a vertical height of 625 metres from the bridge deck down to the river surface.

Weighing about 22,000 tons, the last steel girder hoisted into place connected the sections of the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge, which is currently under construction. 

Reports revealed that the bridge will cut the time required to cross the canyon from nearly an hour to a couple of minutes.

Last steel girder hoisted into place

China Railway Group and China Railway Baoqiao are celebrating the completion of the main structure of Huajiang Gorge Bridge.

“To complete the steel girder hoisting, we have equipped the world’s largest span cable hoisting system,” said Wu Chaoming, a senior engineer participating in the construction.

Wu also revealed that the system is composed of transportation, hoisting, and intelligent monitoring systems, effectively solving technical problems such as large hoisting spans and heavy hoisting weights. 

The bridge is expected to boost regional connectivity and tourism, strengthen economic ties, and transform growth in neighbouring cities, including Guiyang and Anshun.

The project’s main load-bearing steel truss structure consists of 93 segments, weighing a total of 22,000 tonnes – equivalent to the weight of two Eiffel Towers. In total, the bridge is reported to have cost $280m, reported Newsweek.

80% of tallest bridge’s main construction completed

Reports revealed that 80% of the bridge’s main construction has been completed, and the next phase involves installing panel segments between the trusses.

Expected to open in the latter half of 2025, the 2,890-metre bridge has a span of 1,420 metres. It will also be the world’s largest-span bridge to be built in a mountainous area. The project is part of Guizhou Transportation Investment Group Co Ltd.

Project faces various challenges

A Stockholm-based company that provided equipment for the construction, Alimak, earlier revealed that the Huajiang Canyon Grand Bridge project in Guizhou faces distinctive challenges due to its location atop the Castel geomorphology and geology canyon.

Guizhou occupies the pinnacle of this geological formation, positioned in the alternating zone between the Yunnan Plateau and the Lower Yangtze Valley Plain, resulting in frequent shifts between cold and hot air. 

The company earlier also maintained that being in a plateau region intensifies atmospheric temperature differences between day and night, leading to the likelihood of severe convective weather and consistent valley winds throughout the year.

The bridge’s height surpasses the Beipanjiang Bridge, which is currently the world’s tallest bridge. Located in Guizhou province, the bridge stands 565 metres above the Beipan River. The Beipanjiang Bridge connects Guizhou and Yunnan provinces.

Supporting the four lanes of traffic, the cable-stayed bridge has also been the highest bridge deck since its completion in 2016.

Opened for traffic in December 2016, the bridge’s height is equivalent to a 200-floor skyscraper. The suspension bridge, which has a span of 720 metres, is sometimes bathed in clouds and mist, offering breathtaking views.