A bridge is a structure built to provide passage over a physical obstacle. The obstacle can be anything (valley, waterbody, or road) that might be risky to cross otherwise.
There are different types of bridges that serve different purposes. Their designs vary depending on the nature of the terrain, the function of the structure, and the material used to build the structure.
One of the oldest known bridges is Arkadiko Bridge. It’s an arch bridge from the 13th century BC, originally made for chariots. What’s surprising is that it’s still being used today.
Nowadays, bridges can be super long, over 1,000 miles, and carry really heavy things. This is because of improvements in how we design and make bridges using engineering and materials science.
Below, we have listed some of the longest bridges in the world, sorted by their full length above water or land. From towering suspension bridges to expansive viaducts, each structure tells a story of engineering excellence and the relentless pursuit of connectivity.
It’s interesting to see that 7 out of these 16 bridges are located in China, highlighting the country’s dedication to developing its infrastructure.
Did you know?
The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in Louisiana, USA, is the longest continuous bridge over water globally, spanning approximately 24 miles.
Table of Contents
16. Yangcun Bridge
Country: China
Completed in 2007
Length: 35,812 meters
The Yangcun Bridge is a high-speed railway bridge constructed for the Beijing-Tianjin Intercity Railway. It’s designed to handle trains going at speeds of 350 km/h or even faster. This has significantly reduced the travel time between Tianjin and Beijing, cutting it down from 70 minutes to just 30 minutes.
15. The Main Link of Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway
The new bridge of Kuwait, the 4th longest in the world, Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway: 48 km of paved ways in two main lanes. The central pole is 151 m, equaling the Kuwait Towers height. 1,200 piers, 1,200 precast, 3 lanes in each direction. #kuwait pic.twitter.com/xaF0QghNl7
— MARIA ANGELA CAPELLO (@yarmuck) May 3, 2019
Country: Kuwait
Completed in 2019
Length: 36,140 meters
This is the world’s largest maritime causeway project, valued at over $3.6 billion. It reduces the distance between Kuwait City and Subiyah in the northern part of Kuwait, cutting travel time from 1.5 hours to less than 0.5 hours.
The project consists of two main parts:
- Main Link (36 km long): connects Kuwait City with the future Silk City
- Doha Link (12 km long): connects Kuwait City to Doha
The causeway incorporates smart transportation monitoring systems for traffic monitoring, emergency vehicle tracking, recording trip duration, and reporting traffic violations.
14. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Skyway
Country: Indonesia
Completed in 2019
Length: 36,400 meters
This is the longest flyover in Indonesia and the lengthiest elevated double-decker expressway in Southeast Asia. a. Specifically built for private vehicles, this elevated toll road aims to alleviate traffic congestion in the Greater Jakarta region and lessen the strain on the current Jakarta–Cikampek toll road.
13. Manchac Swamp Bridge
Country: United States
Completed in 1979
Length: 36,710 meters
The Manchac Swamp Bridge is a twin concrete trestle bridge in Louisiana. It is the longest bridge on the Interstate Highway System.
The total cost of the project exceeded $160 million. Despite having lower daily traffic compared to busier bridges, this structure stands as an engineering marvel, showcasing the push of construction limits in today’s world.
12. Line 1, Wuhan Metro Bridge
Country: China
Completed in 2009
Length: 37,788 meters
Line 1 of Wuhan Metro is an elevated metro line in Hubei. It is the world’s longest continuous metro viaduct. Interestingly, it was the first metro line in China to be mistakenly labeled as a light rail system in Chinese terminology due to its elevated structure.
11. Lake Pontchartrain Causeway
Satellite view
Country: United States
Completed in 1956 (southbound), 1969 (northbound)
Length: 38,442 meters
The causeway is a fixed link containing two parallel bridges crossing Lake Pontchartrain. The northern terminus of the causeway is at Mandeville, Louisiana. The southern terminus is in Metairie, Louisiana, a part of the New Orleans metropolitan area.
It is the world’s longest continuous bridge over water. The two bridges are supported by 9,500 concrete pillars. The first bridge opened in 1956, costing $46 million. To manage growing traffic, a second bridge was constructed in parallel, amounting to $30 million.
The bridge is so extensive that for 13 out of its 38 kilometers, there is no visible land in any direction. Interestingly, some babies have been born on this bridge when their mothers couldn’t make it to the hospital on the other side in time.
10. Metro Manila Skyway System
Country: Philippines
Completed in 2021
Length: 39,200 meters
As the name suggests, this elevated highway serves as the main expressway of Metro Manila. It is the Philippines’ first fully grade-separated highway, which also stands out as one of the world’s lengthiest elevated highways.
The overall project involves the construction of elevated roads and ramps to build an interconnected system that enhances the transportation infrastructure. It is currently maintained by Skyway Operations and Maintenance Corporation (SOMCO), which handles traffic safety and management and toll collection.
9. Dhaka Elevated Expressway
Country: Bangladesh
Completed in 2023
Length: 46,730 meters
The Dhaka Elevated Expressway is a major infrastructure project in Bangladesh aimed at addressing traffic congestion in the capital city, Dhaka. It is designed to be elevated, allowing it to pass over existing road networks, intersections, and other obstacles.
The estimated cost of the project is $1.1 billion, and it is expected to notably cut down travel time for commuters in densely populated urban areas.
8. Beijing Grand Bridge
A map of Beijing Grand Bridge
Country: China
Completed in 2010
Length: 48,153 meters
The Beijing Grand Bridge is a lengthy viaduct situated on the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway. Notably, the longest span of the bridge measures 44 meters. Additionally, it features a 108-meter-long steel box arch section, making it one of the largest steel box arch bridges in China’s railway infrastructure.
7. Bang Na Expressway
Country: Thailand
Completed in 2000
Length: 54,000 meters
The Bang Na Expressway is a 54-kilometer-long, six-lane elevated highway owned by the Express Authority of Thailand. It’s an overpass-style bridge made of several small spans, each containing beams that are hollow box-shaped girders.
The highway construction commenced in 1995 and continued for a span of 5 years. Almost 1,800,000 cubic meters of concrete were utilized to build the bridge. The entire project incurred a cost exceeding $1 billion.
It was built to solve one of the main problems of Bangkok city: traffic congestion. Although traffic on the highway is chargeable, Bang Na has remained quite demanding for the drivers since opening. And since the stunning panorama opens onto the city from the main road, it has attracted numerous tourists in the last 2 decades.
6. Weinan Weihe Grand Bridge
Weinan North Railway Station
Country: China
Completed in 2008
Length: 79,732 meters
The Weinan Weihe Grand Bridge connects Xi’an and Zhengzhou. It’s a part of the high-speed railway that shortens the travel time between two cities by two-thirds. Although the construction was completed in 2008, the Zhengzhou–Xi’an Railway line itself didn’t open until February 2010.
5. Cangde Grand Bridge
Country: China
Completed in 2010
Length: 105,810 meters
Cangde Grand Bridge is the third-longest bridge on the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway. It has a total of 3,092 piers designed to withstand large earthquakes. The soil around the pile is silty clay, clay, silty soil, and silty sand. The pile end is situated in the silty clay and silty soil.
4. Tianjin Grand Bridge
Country: China
Completed in 2004
Length: 113,700 meters
Tianjin Grand Bridge is part of the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway that runs between Qingxian and Langfang. What’s notable about this bridge is its efficiency in land use, requiring only 10.9 hectares per routed kilometer, which is less than half the land area needed for a railway embankment (28.4 hectares).
To streamline construction and minimize the need for separate structures to cross railways and roads, the bridge adopts an elevated track design. It incorporates 32-meter-long tubular girders, with each girder weighing 860 tons.
3. Kita–Yaita Viaduct
Country: Japan
Completed in 1982
Length: 114,424 meters
The Kita-Yaita Viaduct is an integral part of Japan’s high-speed Shinkansen rail network, linking the bustling city of Tokyo with Aomori.
Under the management of the East Japan Railway Company, the viaduct has significantly impacted the regional economies, facilitating the movement of people and goods and fostering connections between rural and urban regions along its path.
2. Changhua–Kaohsiung Viaduct
Taiwan High-Speed Rail System | Credit: Oli Dansereau
Country: Taiwan
Completed in 2004
Length: 157,317 meters
Changhua–Kaohsiung Viaduct is the second-longest bridge in the world. It’s a part of the Taiwan High-Speed Rail network that extends from Zuoying District to Changhua County.
It is one of the largest and most challenging infrastructure projects in the world to date. Specifically designed for trains reaching a maximum speed of 350 km/hr, it possesses the resilience to withstand fault movements and significant earthquakes without incurring serious damage.
1. Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge
Country: China
Completed in 2010
Length: 164,800 meters
The world’s longest bridge is located on the high-speed rail line between Nanjing and Shanghai. The primary objective of this bridge is to solve the railway traffic in the area.
Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge was opened in June 2011. It took 4 years to build the structure with a workforce consisting of 10,000 people. The overall project cost nearly $8.5 billion.
The bridge is supported by 2,000 pillars and features a substantial 450,000 tons of steel structure. A large section of the bridge (9 km) spans over the Yangcheng Lake. Moreover, the structure is robust enough to endure direct impacts from naval vessels and withstand natural disasters such as magnitude-8 earthquake and typhoons.
More To Know
Indeed, the bridges discussed so far serve the essential purpose of facilitating the movement of people and goods, overcoming challenges that would otherwise be daunting. They predominantly feature construction using high-strength concrete and steel.
Yet, there exist some bridges with distinctive purposes and unique materials. Let’s take a look at those fascinating structures.
Longest Wooden Bridge
The U Bein Bridge is one of the oldest and longest teakwood bridges in the world, spanning the Taungthaman Lake in Myanmar for a length of 1.2 kilometers.
“From dusk to dawn”
Every sunset brings the promise of a new dawn. In these pics the U Bein bridge goes from an orange hue to a bright yellow.
This is the oldest and longest teakwood bridge in the world. #Mandalay #Myanmar pic.twitter.com/h1YAPc4kcI
— Konark Sangal (@konarksangal) February 22, 2022
It was built in 1850 using wood gathered from the royal palace in Inwa. It has a total of 1,086 pillars stretched out of the water, some of which have been dangerously decayed and replaced with concrete.
Longest Glass Bridge
Image credit: Liu Peiran/Xinhua/Sipa USA
The Hongyagu glass suspension bridge, situated in the Hongyagu Scenic Area, spans the gap between two cliffs. Opened in 2017, it represents the 2.0 era for China’s glass-bottomed bridges.
Boasting the highest transparency, it features a remarkable 488-meter span over a vertical drop of 218 meters. This structure has the capacity to accommodate 800 pedestrians simultaneously.
Longest Suspension Bridge
Image captured by Kim Rötzel from an aircraft
Akashi Kaikyō Bridge is the world’s longest suspension bridge that connects Iwaya on Awaji Island to Kobe City on the Japanese mainland of Honshu. The structure was built in 1998. It is 4 times longer than the Brooklyn Bridge and has the longest central span (1,991 meters) of any suspension bridge.
The bridge features a dual-hinged stiffening girder system that allows the structure to withstand an 8.5 magnitude earthquake, winds reaching 286 km/h, and violent sea currents.
Historic Long Bridges
Many historic long bridges have influenced the design and construction of modern bridges. The most notable ones are:
- Pont du Gard (France): Built by the Romans in the 1st century AD, this is an ancient aqueduct bridge. Its use of arches and precise engineering shows the strength and durability of Roman construction techniques.
- Brooklyn Bridge (New York): Completed in 1883, its innovative use of steel cables and stone towers set the standard for suspension bridge design.
- Forth Bridge (Edinburgh, Scotland): This cantilever railway bridge opened in 1890. The use of steel in a cantilevered structure showcased advances in materials and engineering techniques.
- Golden Gate Bridge (San Francisco): This iconic suspension bridge is known for its Art Deco design and international orange color. Complete in 1937, it set new standards in construction safety.
Men in Highland dress in front of the Forth Bridge, Scotland. The Forth Railway bridge, which spans the Firth of Forth, was built for the North British Railway and opened on 4 March 1890.
Picture: Scottish National Portrait Gallery #history pic.twitter.com/0ERuiMKTfs
— niloc1406195 Colin President Elect (@niloc14061952) December 6, 2023
How do these long bridges contribute to the local and global economy?
Long bridges contribute substantially to both local and global economies in many different ways. For example,
- They facilitate the movement of goods and services
- They enhance regional connectivity and foster economic integration between neighboring areas
- Their construction and maintenance generate employment opportunities
- They reduce transportation costs by minimizing detours and travel times
- Nearby locations may experience increased demand for real estate
- Iconic bridges often become tourist attractions
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Would love to find out n hope some precious materials as well.