World’s tallest bridge opens to traffic in China’s Guizhou province
The world’s tallest bridge opened to traffic on Sunday morning in the southwestern Chinese province of Guizhou.
The latest addition to China’s rapidly expanding infrastructure network, the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge slashes travel time across the canyon from two hours to just two minutes.
Standing 625 meters above the Beipan River in Guizhou’s mountainous terrain, the bridge is nearly nine times as tall as San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge.
Almost 3km long, the bridge has made multiple technological breakthroughs in its wind-resistance design and high-altitude bridge construction.
The construction team has overcome immense challenges posed by the Grand Canyon. But new technologies, including satellite navigation, drones, smart monitoring systems, and ultra-high-strength materials, engineers where able to achieve millimeter-level precision in high-altitude construction, transforming a once-impassable barrier into a transportation corridor.
The bridge also includes recreational areas where visitors can take sightseeing elevators to the observation hall where they skydiving and bungee jumping, are available. A cafe on top of the bridge tower offers panoramic views of the surrounding mountains.
One of China’s least developed provinces, Guizhou is home to nearly half of the world’s 100 tallest bridges.
By Rédaction Africanews
