The height of the bridge is ranked by the height of the deck which is the maximum distance from the road of the bridge down to the ground or water beneath.
1.Sidu River Bridge, China
Sidu River Bridge which hangs over 1,627 nauseating feet above a canyon floor, connecting two mountaintops. This bridge was part of China’s ever-expanding highway system, connecting two disparate parts of the country that were previously separated by difficult, mountainous terrain and multiple rivers.
It is located in the Hubei Province and crosses the valley of the Sidu River. The bridge spans just over 5,000 feet across the river valley . It is located at the border of Yichang and En’shi in the Hubei province. It is 1365 m across. This is not to say that the bridge isn’t safe. main cables are capable of holding up over 43 million tons of weight, which should be more than adequate to support any number of vehicles that might want to make the trip across. huge amounts of steel and concrete that make up the bridge strong.
- Baluarte Bridge, Mexico
The Baluarte Bridge is built across the deep ravine in the Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range in north Mexico. The 403m (1,322 ft)tall bridge is the Guinness World Record holder for the highest cable-stayed bridge. The 1,124m Baluarte Bridge is an essential part of the Mazatlan-Durango highway, a $1.4bn new roadway linking the coastal city of Mazatlan to Durango, the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Durango. It is also the second highest bridge in the world.
The bridge is expected to carry more than 2,000 vehicles every day. The bridge is officially called the Baluarte Bicentennial Bridge. It is the crown jewel of the greatest bridge and tunnel highway project ever undertaken in North America. it will be the only crossing for more than 500 miles (800 km) between the pacific coast and the interior of Mexico. By cutting a safer, more direct route through the mountains, the highway department of Mexico hopes to improve trade and increase tourism between the city of Durango and the coastal city of Mazatlán.
- Baling River Bridge, China
The Baling River Bridge is a suspension bridge in Guanling County in Guizhou Province of China. With a height of 1,214 feet (370 mtrs) from deck to water, the Balinghe River bridge is the tenth highest bridge in China .The suspension range is 1,088 m 3,570 ft long, and the bridge has an aggregate length of 2,237 m 7,339 ft. It is likewise one of the world’s most elevated bridges with 370 m 1,210 ft of freedom over the river. Balinghe bridge is located in a hot spot of high Chinese bridges and is less than 100 miles (161 km) from many others in the region, Also be sure to visit nearby Huangguoshu waterfalls, one of the largest in China with a drop of 243 feet (74 mtrs).
The deck tallness of a bridge is the most extreme vertical drop remove from the bridge deck, the street, rail or other transport bed of a bridge down to the ground or water surface underneath the bridge range. The bridge is a piece of the G60 Shanghai, Kunming Expressway among Kunming and Guiyang and lessened the movement time over the river valley from one hour to four minutes. Balinghe is one of a dozen high Chinese suspension bridges with extremely long spans. Some of the others are Siduhe, Aizhai, Jinshajiang Bridge Jin’an, Dahe, Qingshuihe, Chishuihe Bridge Hongjun, Kaizhouhu, Daduhe Bridge Xingkang and Beipanjiang Huajiang bridges.
- Beipanjiang River 2003 Bridge, China
The highest bridge in the world upon its opening in late 2003, the 1,200 foot (366 meter) high Beipanjiang Bridge Guanxing highway became the second Chinese span in just two years to take this honor. The bridge is also one of 4 Beipanjiang River crossings to have been among the world’s 10 highest. Then in 2016 the Beipanjiang Bridge Duge opened with a World Record deck height of 564 meters. The word Beipanjiang translates into North Winding River with the word “Bei” meaning north and “Pan” meaning winding. The Beipanjiang River traverses through some of China’s most spectacular mountain gorges. When China began to expand its road and railway system in the 1990s, the river became the biggest obstacle between the city of Guiyang and the city of Kunming.
The Beipanjiang River bridge was one of 4 medium sized suspension bridges that were designed and built in the same time period. The other 3 include the Azhihe, Xixi and Luojiaohe bridges. Despite its fall from the top spot among China’s highest spans, the Beipanjiang Bridge Guanxing is still one of the most vertigo inducing of all with cliffs that plummet into a void that seems to have no bottom. The bridge is perfect for tourists with pedestrian friendly parking areas on both sides of the gorge as well as walkways along the edges of the span.
- Aizhai Bridge, China
It is located deep in the heart of China’s Hunan Province near the city of Jishou, the suspension bridge is the largest structure on the Jishou to Chadong expressway with a deck 1,102 feet (336 mtrs) above the DeHang Canyon and has also become a major tourist attraction with a walkway partly made of glass accessible via a large group of escalators and elevators. It is the world’s highest and longest tunnel-to-tunnel bridge in China to cross a valley so wide it seems to be connecting two mountain ranges. The first three were the Siduhe, Balinghe and Beipanjiang Hukun bridges.
With most of the structure hidden from view, the bridge will come as a jaw-dropping surprise whether you enter the canyon from either tunnel. In addition to cost savings, the stubby support also allows the bridge to blend more naturally into its surroundings. The taller bridge tower is no less unique with side span cables that soar down the backside of a mountain, making first time visitors quizzical as to what exactly lies ahead. The overlook and visitors center offer additional views of the broad valley. In view of the particular problems posed by the surrounding landscape and geologic conditions, and to minimize the impact of the bridge on the natural environment, a novel pylon-girder detached suspension structure was adopted, in which there is a large difference in the span between the main cable and the stiffening girder.
- Beipanjiang River 2009 Bridge, China
The river remains the biggest obstacle between the city of Guiyang and the city of Kunming. Construction of the bridge was built using a method developed by the Chinese that had never been used before on a bridge so large. It was opened to the public in 2009, just 6 years after another (and higher) bridge crossing the same river was opened (see number 4 in this list).The 1,043 foot (318 mtr) high Beipanjiang highway bridge became the 3rd high crossing of the Beipanjiang River to debut in just 8 years. The first was the 902 foot high (275 mtr) Beipanjiang railway bridge which debuted in 2001 as the highest railway bridge in the world. The second was the Beipanjiang 2003 bridge on the Xingyi to Guiyang Highway which opened as the world’s highest bridge with a suspension span 1,200 feet (366 mtrs) above the river. The 3 bridges are spaced about 50 miles apart from each other. No other river on earth outside China has more than one high bridge over it .
It Cuts a huge swath from the northwest end of Guizhou Province to the southwest where it becomes the Hongshui he river at the border of Guangxi Province. The total height of 525 feet (160 mtrs), the tower is almost equal in height to the Mackinac bridge in Michigan. It also became the World’s Highest Railway bridge, toppling the quarter century record of the Mala Rijeka viaduct in Podgorica, Montenegro. In 2009, the Beipanjiang Railway Bridge Shuibai lost its highest arch title to another Chinese span, the 965 foot (294 mtr) high Zhijinghe road bridge. The 118 kilometer railway connects Liupanshui and Baiguo.
- Liuguanghe Bridge, China
Only the Beipanjiang River has a more spectacular group of high river crossings in China. The beautiful location spawned a temporary food vendor village on the Southeast side of the span sometime. Liuguanghe became the world’s highest bridge at 975 feet (297 mtrs). It is located near the city of Guiyang in China’s Western province of Guizhou, this 100 mile (161 km) stretch of 2-lane highway contains 2 suspension bridges, one 650 feet and one 550 feet high. as well as another concrete beam bridge 600 feet (183 mtr) high and two arches, 380 (116 mtr) and 360 feet (110 mtrs) high. The scale of the Liuguanghe bridge is not always evident from photographs until you realize that the main span of the bridge is 787 feet (240 mtrs) between piers – longer than any beam bridge span that has ever been built in the United States. The pier on the west side of the bridge is the tallest point of the structure standing 295 feet (90 meters) in height. Resting on top of the two piers is a single-cell box girder with a height of 44 feet (13.4 mtrs) over the piers and 13 1/2 feet (4.1 mtrs) at mid-span. On the northwest end of the bridge there is a temporary pullout along the shoulder to park. From there you can walk across the bridge and peer into the void over the 4 foot (1.5 mtr) high concrete barrier.
For those who may not be familiar with cantilevered concrete beam bridges, they are the most popular type of high bridge in China by far. Beam bridges are built by two formwork carriers that advance out from either side of the pier cap with the load balanced evenly on both sides. This has created a deadly cocktail with head-on collisions occurring on a weekly basis. The Liuguanghe arch also marks the upper end of the Wujiang Dam reservoir that extends just a few hundred meters further upstream of the crossing when the lake is at full level.
- Zhijinghe River Bridge, China
Zhijinghe River bridge is located about 50 miles (80 kms) south of the Yangtze River gorge in China’s mountainous Hubei Province, the Zhijinghe River bridge is the highest arch bridge in the world with a deck 965 feet (294 mtrs) in height, it surpassed the Beipanjiang Railway bridge by 40 feet (12 mtrs) and West Virginia’s New River Gorge bridge by 90 feet (27 mtrs). India’s Chenab River bridge will be higher when it opens sometime after 2015 but Zhijinghe will still retain the honor of highest roadway arch since Chenab is a railway bridge. Zhijinghe is also the world’s highest tunnel to tunnel bridge. The soaring red span is also impressive for its 1,411 foot (430 mtrs) length, ranking it among the world’s ten longest arches.
A major connection on the last 300 mile (483 km) link of the 1,350 mile (2,175 km) long West Hurong highway that now connects Shanghai on the Pacific coast with the cities of Chongqing and Chengdu in the west, the span is just one of many jaw-dropping high bridges along the Yichang-Enshi portion of the route including Siduhe, the highest bridge in the world and Longtanhe, the largest beam bridge viaduct on earth. Throw in 6 other bridges over 500 feet (150 mtrs) in height and you have the greatest stretch of bridge “high-way” in the world.
The type of steel truss arch used for the Zhijinghe bridge may look common but the Chinese have taken it one step further, developing it into a unique type of structure all its own. The eight large steel tubes that run along the underside of the Zhijinghe arch were initially hollow. Once the arch was closed, concrete was pumped into these tubes from the bottom up. First used by the Chinese in 1990, they have refined and improved the technique and now use it on the majority of their steel arch bridges. Depending on the length of the span and the width of the bridge, different styles of tubing are used. For Zhijinghe, they adopted an array of single tubes spaced apart from each other. Other configurations include dumbbells with two tubes closely connected, a mix of a dumbbell and single tubes such as was done on the Beipanjiang River Railway bridge or a tight cluster of tubes known as “multiple contiguous”. Once hardened, the concrete solidifies and stiffens the arch, improving the compressive strength of the entire structure.
- Royal Gorge Bridge, Colorado, United States
Height of 291 m (955 ft). The Royal Gorge Bridge is a tourist attraction within a theme park. The bridge deck crosses the Royal Gorge above the Arkansas River, and is located in the U.S. state of Colorado . The bridge is 1,260 feet (384 m) long It is the highest in the United States. YOU CAN WALK ACROSS THE BRIDGE OR GLIDE ACROSS IN AN AERIAL GONDOLA. A ONCE-AN-A-LIFETIME THRILL AWAITS ON THE CLOUDSCRAPER ZIPRIDER AND ROYAL RUSH SKYCOASTER. The bridge was the highest suspension bridge in the world with a roadway 955 feet (291 mtrs) above the Arkansas river. There will eventually be at least a dozen Chinese suspension bridges of greater height.
While the Royal Gorge bridge no longer holds any world records, this Rocky Mountain wonder of wire and wood is still the highest bridge in the United States and one of the most popular destinations in the state of Colorado with more than 500,000 visitors a year. Since its construction, the Royal Gorge has become much more than a bridge but an entire park that includes more than a dozen attractions that can keep you busy for an entire day.
Other attractions that have been added over the years include a miniature railroad, a carousel, a zoo, burro and wagon rides, a theater, a concert pavilion, a gift shop and visitors center and three eating places as well as the Royal Rush Skycoaster, a thrilling swing ride that threatens to throw you off into the gorge. Special events like“Go Fast! Games” that were held the last weekend in September during the mid-2000s where BASE jumpers from around the world converged on the bridge to leap off into the void of the Arkansas River canyon.
THERE ARE ATTRACTIONS AND ENTERTAINMENT FOR EVERY MEMBER OF THE FAMILY. No history of Royal Gorge would be complete without mentioning the railroad that has traveled through the bottom of the canyon in one form or another since 1879. IT IS ONE OF COLORADO’S MOST ICONIC NATURAL WONDERS.
- Beipanjiang River Railway Bridge, China
It is located southwest of the city of Liupanshui near the north end of China’s Guizhou province on the Shuibai Railway, the Beipanjiang railway bridge crosses an exceptionally deep gorge with vertical cliffs rising hundreds of feet from either side of the Beipan river.The 902 foot (275 meter) high Beipanjiang River railway bridge became the highest arch bridge on earth, unseating the 23-year old record long held by West Virginia’s New River Gorge bridge as well as being the second highest bridge of any kind in the world. It also became the World’s Highest Railway bridge, toppling the quarter century record of the Mala Rijeka viaduct in Podgorica, Montenegro.
The bridge was the first of what is now 4 Beipanjiang crossings to have been among the world’s 10 highest. The second was the Beipanjiang Guanxing highway bridge that opened in 2003 near Huajiang. The third came along in 2009 on the Guiyang to Kunming Hukun Expressway. Then in 2016 the Beipanjiang Bridge Duge opened with a World Record deck height of 564 meters. Most of these bridges are spaced about 50 miles apart from each other. No other river on earth outside China has more than one or two high bridges over it – the Beipanjiang has 8 with more to come!
The word Beipanjiang translates into North Winding River with the word “bei” meaning north and “pan” meaning winding. Cutting a huge swath from the northwest end of Guizhou Province to the southwest where it becomes the Hongshui he River at the border of Guangxi Province, the Beipanjiang River traverses through some of China’s most spectacular mountain gorges. The river remains the biggest obstacle between the city of Guiyang and the city of Kunming.
It is located north of Qinglong city, the Beipanjiang has always been Guizhou’s second greatest river after the Wujiang. Designed to carry trains that reach speeds of 250 kilometers an hour, the 721 meter long crossing has a main arch .
