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The Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge, set to open in June 2025, will become the world’s highest bridge, towering 625 metres above the Beipan River in southwestern China’s Guizhou province.
To put its scale into perspective, the bridge rises nearly 200 metres higher than the Eiffel Tower and eclipses France’s famed Millau Viaduct — which previously held the record for the world’s highest bridge at 343 metres. As WION News reports, this leap in height makes it a staggering 289 metres higher than its French counterpart.
Over three years after the beginning of its construction in 2022, the bridge is almost complete, with its main steel structure assembled in just two months.
“At present, the overall progress of the bridge has reached 95%, and it is planned to be opened to traffic in the second half of 2025,” Zhang Shenglin, chief engineer of Guizhou Highway Group, told China Daily.
The towering bridge will serve to improve transport in the region. Currently, crossing the canyon, dubbed ‘Earth Crack’, for its steep cliffs and deep chasm that slices through the mountainous terrain, requires navigating a winding drive that can take up to two hours.
Once the bridge opens, that journey will be cut down to about a minute, BBC reports. The new bridge will significantly boost regional connectivity and reduce transport costs.
“This super project that spans the ‘Earth crack’ will be the world’s first in both directions. It will become another landmark project to demonstrate China’s infrastructure strength,” Zhang said.
Guizhou, located 1287 km west of Shenzhen, already hosts nearly half of the world’s 100 tallest bridges.
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