The Highest Bridges in the World

Sidu River Bridge

The list of the world's highest bridges ranks bridges by deck height. The deck height of a bridge is the maximum vertical drop distance from the bridge deck (the road, rail or other transport bed of a bridge) down to the ground or water surface beneath the bridge span. Deck height should not be confused with structural height, which measures the maximum vertical distance from the uppermost point of a bridge down to the lowest visible point of a bridge, where its piers emerge from the surface of the ground, foundation or water. A separate list of the world's tallest bridges ranks bridges by structural height.

Completed Bridges:-

The ranking of the highest bridges in the world, currently open for use. Only bridges with a height of 175 metres (574 ft) or greater are included. Bridges under construction or demolished are not included.

Rank	Name	Location	Height (Mt / Ft)	Main span (Mt / Ft)	Year opened	Carries
1	Sidu River Bridge	China	496 m (1,627 ft)	900 m (2,950 ft)	2009	Road
2	Hegigio Gorge Pipeline Bridge	Papua New Guinea	393 m (1,289 ft)	470 m (1,540 ft)	2005	Petroleum
3	Baluarte Bridge	Mexico	390 m (1,280 ft)	520 m (1,710 ft)	2012	Road
4	Baling River Bridge	China	370 m (1,210 ft)	1,088 m (3,570 ft)	2009	Road
5	Beipanjiang River 2003 Bridge	China	366 m (1,201 ft)	388 m (1,273 ft)	2003	Road
6	Aizhai Bridge	China	350 m (1,150 ft)	1,176 m (3,858 ft)	2012	Road
7	Liuchonghe Bridge	China	336 m (1,102 ft)	438 m (1,437 ft)	2013	Road
8	Beipanjiang River 2009 Bridge	China	318 m (1,043 ft)	636 m (2,087 ft)	2009	Road

Sidu River Bridge:

The Sidu River Bridge is a 1,222 m-long (4,009 ft) suspension bridge crossing the valley of the Sidu _f).

River near Yesanguan in Badong County of the Hubei Province of the China. The bridge was designed by CCSHCC Second Highway Consultants Company, Ltd. and built at a cost of 720 million Yuan (approximately US$100 million). It opened to traffic on November 15, 2009. The bridge is part of the new G50 Huyu Expressway that parallels China National Highway 318, an east-west route between Shanghai and Chongqing. The Yiwan Railway, completed in 2010 and running parallel to the highway, has been described as China's most difficult to build and most expensive (per km) rail line. The bridge spans a 500-meter (1,600 ft) deep valley of the Sidu River (a left tributary of the Qingjiang River), and has superseded the Royal Gorge Bridge and the Beipanjiang River 2003 Bridge as the highest bridge in the world. Each strand is made of 127 wires (also making a hexagonal shape so that there is a total of 16,129 wires in each of the two main suspension cables. Each cable can hold 191,960 kilonewtons (43,150,000 lb

Hegigio Gorge Pipeline Bridge:

Hegigio Gorge Pipeline Bridge is, with a height of 393 metres, the world's second highest bridge and highest pipeline bridge. Hegigio Gorge Pipeline Bridge is a suspension bridge, a spanning 470 metres over the Hegigio River. It is used for transporting petroleum oil from Southeast Mananda oil field in the Southern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea. Hegigio Gorge Pipeline Bridge became the world's highest bridge when it was completed in 2005 and remained the highest until the opening of the Sidu River Bridge in China in 2009.

Baluarte Bridge:

The Baluarte Bridge officially the Baluarte Bicentennial Bridge, is a cable-stayed bridge in Mexico. It

is located between the municipalities of Concordia in Sinaloa and Pueblo Nuevo in Durango, along the Durango–Mazatlán highway. The bridge has a total length of 1,124 m (3,688 ft), with a central cable-stayed span of 520 m (1,710 ft), With the road deck at 403 m (1,322 ft) above the valley below, the Baluarte Bridge is the highest cable-stayed bridge in the world, and the third-highest bridge overall. Construction of the bridge began in 2008 and it was inaugurated in January 2012. It is expected to be open to traffic later in 2013. The bridge forms part of a new highway linking the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of northern Mexico and will greatly reduce the travelling time between Durango and Mazatlán.

The bridge's four-lane roadway, 20 metres (66 ft) wide by 1,124 metres (3,688 ft) long, is supported at a height of 403 metres (1,322 ft) above the Baluarte riverbed by 12 piers, two of which are also pylons (towers). Each of the two pylons measures 18 by 8.56 metres (59 by 28.1 ft) at its base, widens in the centre to carry the roadway before tapering upwards to 8 by 4.10 metres (26 by 13.5 ft) wide at its top; the taller, P5, is 169 metres (554 ft) high. 76 steel cables pass over saddles in the pylons to form 152 suspenders in a two plane semi-fan layout. The tallest intermediate pier, P9, is 148 metres (486 ft) high. It crosses a gorge in the Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains with a clearance of 390 metres (1,280 ft) below the deck, substantially taller than the Eiffel Tower. Its clearance is 120 metres (390 ft) higher than that of the previous record-holder, France's Millau Viaduct, which has a clearance of 270 metres (890 ft). The bridge's central span, 520 metres (1,710 ft) long, is also the longest cable-stayed span in North America, 37 metres (121 ft) longer than that of the John James Audubon Bridge in St. Francis Ville, Louisiana. Construction on the bridge began on 21 February 2008. By January 2012, the bridge's construction had required the use of 1,500 workers and engineers, 12,000 tonnes (11,800 long tons; 13,200 short tons) of steel and 90,000 cubic metres (118,000 cubic yards) of concrete. 447,000 cubic metres (584,700 cubic yards) of rock were excavated to lay the bridge's foundations.

The Baluarte Bridge was inaugurated by President Calderón on 5 January 2012. Officials from Guinness World Records were on hand at the inauguration ceremony to certify the bridge as the world's highest cable-stayed bridge. At the time it was about 86 per cent complete. It is expected to be finished by the end of January 2012, and to be operational by late 2012. Its official name as the "Bicentennial" bridge refers to the 2010 bicentenary of the Mexican declaration of independence from Spain at the start of the Mexican War of Independence in 1810. The project is reported to have created 3,500 jobs directly and a further 12,000 indirectly. However, some have warned that the bridge and highway may become a "drug superhighway", making it easier for drug smugglers to move their products across the country.

Baling River Bridge:

The Baling River Bridge is a suspension bridge in Guanling County in Guizhou Province of China.

The bridge spans the Baling River Valley and opened to public traffic on December 23, 2009. The bridge is part of the G60 Shanghai–Kunming Expressway between Kunming and Guiyang and reduced the travel time across the river valley from one hour to four minutes. The suspension span is 1,088 m (3,570 ft) long, and the bridge has a total length of 2,237 m (7,339 ft). It is also one of the world's highest bridges with 375 m (1,230 ft) of clearance above the river. In July 2012 the Baling River Bridge was the location for the 2012 China Bridge Parachuting International Challenge. 30 BASE jumpers from 15 different countries completed in the event.

Beipanjiang River 2003 Bridge:

Beipanjiang River 2003 Bridge is a 366 metre high suspension bridge on the Guanxing Highway in

Guizhou Province of China. The bridge has a span width of 388 metres. Between 2003 and 2005, it was the world's highest bridge.The highest bridge in the world upon its opening in late 2003; the 1,200 foot (366 m) high Beipanjiang River 2003 Highway Bridge became the second Chinese span in two years to take the

record. The first was 2001’s Liuguanghe Bridge. In addition, the Beipanjiang was the first suspension bridge to break the 1,000-foot (300 m) and 300 meter height thresholds (the Liuguanghe Bridge also passes these thresholds but is a beam bridge) as well as the first suspension bridge in the world to surpass the height of Colorado’s Royal Gorge Bridge after a 74-year reign. The bridge is also the second of 3 Beipan River crossings to have been among the world’s 10 highest. The first was the 902-foot (275 m) high (275 m) Beipanjiang River Railway Bridge which opened in 2001 and will remain the highest train bridge in the world until 2015 when India’s Chenab Bridge is due to open. The Beipanjiang River 2009 Bridge, the third bridge to cross high above the Beipanjiang opened in 2009 on the Guiyang to Kunming Highway with a suspension span 1,083 feet (330 m) above the river.
Aizhai Bridge:

The Aizhai Bridge is a suspension bridge on the G65 Baotou–Maoming Expressway near Jishou, Hunan, China. The bridge was built as part of an expressway from southwest China's Chongqing Municipality to Changsha, with a main span of 1,146 metres (3,760 ft) and a deck height of 350 metres (1,150 ft), as of 2013, it is the sixth-highest bridge in the world and the fifteenth-longest suspension bridge

of the world. The World 400 or so highest bridges, none has a main span as long as Aizhai. It is also the world's highest and longest tunnel-to-tunnel bridge. The bridge contains 1888 lights to increase visibility at night. Construction on the Aizhai Bridge began in October 2007 and was completed by the end of 2011, ahead of schedule. The bridge was temporarily opened to pedestrians during the 2012 Spring Festival and was formally opened to traffic in March 2012.The Bridge was built with the assistance of a $208 million loan from the Asian Development Bank; the loan also funded 64 kilometres (40 mi) of expressway construction and upgrades to 129 kilometres (80 mi) of local roads. The bridge and the associated road construction were projected to reduce the travel time between Jishou and Chadong from 4 hours to less than 1 hour. In September 2012, the Aizhai Bridge was the site of an international BASE jumping festival that included more than 40 jumpers from 13 countries.

Liuchonghe Bridge:

Liuchonghe Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge near Zhijin, Guizhou, China. At 336 m (1,102 ft), the bridge is one of the 10 highest in world. The bridge is part of a new expressway between Zhijin and Qianxi in

Guizhou Province that opened in 2013. The bridge crosses the Liuchong River gorge. (No More Detail Available)

Beipanjiang River 2009 Bridge:

Beipanjiang River 2009 Bridge is a suspension bridge near Guanling, on the border of the Anshun Prefecture, Guizhou, China. The bridge has a main span of 636 metres and is part of the G60 Shanghai–

Kunming Expressway crossing the Beipan River. It stands at a height of 318 metres above the river, placing it amongst the 10 highest bridges in the world. (No More Detail Available)

Timeline of Highest Bridges in History

Name	Record	Location	Height (metres / feet)	Main span (metres / feet)	Year opened
Sidu River Bridge	2009–	Yesanguanzhen	496 m/1,627 ft	900 m/2,952 ft	2009
Hegigio Gorge Pipeline Bridge	2005–2009	Otoma	393 m/1,289 ft	470 m/1,542 ft	2005
Beipanjiang River 2003 Bridge	2003–2005	Xingbeizhen	366 m/1,200 ft	388 m/1,273 ft	2003
Liuguanghe Bridge	2001–2003	Liu Guangzhen	297 m/975 ft	240 m/787 ft	2001
Royal Gorge Bridge	1929–2001	Cañon City	291 m/955 ft	286 m/938 ft	1929
Niouc Bridge	1922–1929	Niouc	190 m/623 ft	190 m/623 ft	1922
Sidi M'Cid Bridge	1912–1922	Constantine	175 m/575 ft	160 m/525 ft	1912
Pont de la Caille	1839 - 1912	Allonzier-la-Caille	147 m/482 ft	183 m/600 ft	1839
Puente Nuevo	1751 - 1839	Ronda	120 m/394 ft	100 m/328 ft	1793
Ponte Delle Torri	1350 - 1751	Spoleto	116 m/380 ft		1350
Alcántara Bridge	106 - 1350	Alcántara	48 m/157 ft	29 m/95 ft	106
Pont d'Aël	3 BC - 106	Aymavilles	66 m/217 ft	14 m/46 ft	3 BC