Out of all the constructions human beings have made ever since its inception, one has to agree that the bridges are one of the most fascinating. Somehow, they are the most under appreciated of them all. People would be stunned after witnessing the highest bridge, longest bridge as well as the largest bridge across the globe. Today, we are going to tell you about top eleven longest bridge in the world and their fascinating facts that might just change your viewpoint, and maybe people will start visiting places to watch the beautiful bridges rather than just buildings and monuments.
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Check out These Longest Bridge in the World
1. Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge
It is the longest bridge in the world and it is for high-speed railway. China dominates that entire list and is a country where you can get to see a lot of longest bridges at once. It is located between Shanghai and Nanjing.
- It took four years to complete the construction of the bridge by over 10,000 construction workers.
- The cost of the construction was about $8.5 billion.It is actually two parallel bridges as you can make out from its name.
- The bridge is 100 feet above the ground. It is supported by 9,500 concrete pilings, 450,000 tons of steel structure and it can withstand high magnitude Earthquake.
Country: China
Length: 164,800 meters.
Year Of Completion: 2010
2. Changhua-Kaohsiung Viaduct
This is also a high-speed railway bridge. But technically, it is not a bridge but a viaduct. It is earthquake resistant and trains can stop at any point and repair damages.
- It is built along many known fault lines but it is technically designed to survive any fault movement effortlessly.
- The difference between this bridge and the next one in the list is so large that one can make another longest bridge with it.
Country: Taiwan
Length: 157,317 meters
Year Of Completion: 2007
3. Tianjin Grand Bridge
This is another high-speed railway bridge in China. Technically speaking, it is the second longest bridge in the world, but according to Wikipedia, it is third as viaduct is considered as a bridge. It connects Beijing to Shanghai.
- It is still listed in the Guinness Book Of World Records as the second longest bridge.
- It took four years to complete. It is a twin bridge.
Country: China
Length: 113,700 meters
Year Of Completion: 2010
4. Weinan Weihe Grand Bridge
It is one of the fascinating bridges because it crosses many highways, railways, and the river Wei twice. There are talks of its expansion in future.
- It was the longest bridge in the world for a couple of years before getting replaced by the above ones.
- But in coming years, with expansion, it can become the longest bridge again.
Country: China
Length: 79,732 meters
Year Of Completion: 2008
5. Bang Na Expressway
We are more used to bridges that are expressways. It was one of the earlier longest bridges ever constructed.
- It is made up of 1,800,000 cubic meters of concrete. It does not cross a sea or over water for most of its part which is truly amazing.It was the longest bridge for nearly a decade.
- The construction company began constructing the bridge without an exact model and only towards the end of the construction, they had the complete and exact design of the bridge.
Country: Thailand
Length: 54,000 meters
Year Of Completion: 2000
6. Beijing Grand Bridge
This is another Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway bridge. It is one of the favorite tourist items. As a matter of fact, it is the landmark of the capital city of China. It takes merely 5 hours to travel between two economic zones.
- It has the longest high-speed train line ever built. The train stops at one station only.
Country: China
Length: 48,153 meters
Year Of Completion: 2010
7. Lake Pontchartrain Causeway
Here is another big highway having two parallel bridges. It cuts Lake Pontchartrain and hence, it is named so.
- It is the only longest bridge to feature in Guinness World Records for nearly 4 decades. Rest of them get replaced after a decade at maximum.
- The cost of construction of the two bridges was nearly $57 million and needed 9,500 concrete pilings
- .Hurricane Katrina caused damages to the bridge in 2005, especially at the turnarounds.
- The first bridge was completed in 1956 while the later one completed in 1969.
Country: United States
Length: 34,442 meters
Year Of Completion: 1969
8. Manchac Swamp Bridge
It passes through Louisiana and is considered to be the longest toll-free road bridge. The approximate cost of the construction was nearly $140 million with $7 million per mile.
Country: United States
Length: 36,170 meters
Year Of Completion: 1979
9. Yangcun Bridge
Well, it is relatively small than the longest railway bridges in China, but it holds the record of having the fastest train travel ever. A train can travel at 350 km per hour.
- Since it can withstand the highest speed of trains, it can withstand high vibrations during severe earthquakes.
- Due to it, the travel time from Beijing to Tianjin is reduced from 70 minutes to 30 minutes which according to the experts is just massive.
Country: China
Length: 35,812 meters
Year Of Completion: 2007
10. Hangzhou Bay Bridge
It is a trans-oceanic bridge and was meant to reduce the time taken to travel between Ningbo and Shanghai.
- It is one of the cable-stayed bridges which makes it unique. It is designed to withstand the tidal forces of rivers and bay on which it stands.
- Instead of concrete piles, it uses steel piles to prevent corrosion due to tidal waves. It faces tides of height 25 feet.
- There is a service center in the middle of the bridge where there is a hotel, restaurant, resting area, gas station and other tourist facilities. It is built on an island on pliers.
Country: China
Length: 35,673 meters
Year Of Completion: 2007
11. Runyang Bridge
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It is one of the most popular expressways as it runs from Beijing to Shanghai. It is a combination of two bridges.
- The complete construction cost was $700 million. It took five years to complete.
- It is the fifth longest suspension bridge in the world and second largest in China.
- It has six different traffic lanes and a narrow sidewalk path. It is about 150 feet about waterbodies.
Country – China
Length – 35,660 meters
Year Of Completion – 2005
Out of 13 longest bridges, China has 9 of them. India ranks in 14th places with Dwarka Sector 8 Metro Station bridge with 29,808 meters. One can safely conclude the China has the most daring constructors in the world and they are expert in building longest bridges and breaking their own records. Apart from the historic monuments and places in different countries, you should take your time to watch some of these bridges in respective countries and maybe take a selfie if you are skillful enough!
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