World’s Tallest Bridge Inaugurated in China

The world’s tallest bridge was opened to traffic on Sunday (28) in China. Spanning the Huajiang Canyon in Guizhou province, the structure will shorten travel time from about two hours to just a few minutes. The bridge stands 625 meters high at its highest point from the ground to the roadway, and spans 1,420 meters. It is as impressive as the country’s tallest skyscraper, Shanghai Tower, at 632 meters, as reported by the state news agency Xinhua.
The construction took three years to complete and cost over 2 billion yuan ($1.5 billion), according to state media. Videos from the inauguration show the bridge towers shrouded in clouds. China holds the record for mega infrastructure projects, with 18 of the world’s 20 tallest bridges located in the country. Up until this Sunday’s opening, the title of tallest bridge belonged to another structure in Guizhou province: the Beipanjiang, also known as Duge Bridge, at 565 meters in height.
However, such projects are considered controversial in the country due to the high provincial debt levels – a situation particularly acute in Guizhou.