Do you have any idea about the longest bridges in the world? As far as Civil Engineering is concerned, bridges are arguably the greatest proof of Mankind’s determination for advancement in civilization. Bridges are built in order for man to get to places that are seemingly inaccessible.
These structures have opened new and exciting possibilities for exploration, trade, accessibility to local and foreign amenities, leading to a boom in the economy.
In recent times, bridges have grown to be common in almost every country in the world, connecting islands and various areas of mainlands in all geographical regions around the world. The effort and cost required to build bridges are quite large, to say the least.
Highly skilled engineers and technicians, including underwater welders and civil planners are usually required to push their knowledge and experience to the limit especially during the construction of a major bridge.
In Nigeria, the Third Mainland Bridge is the longest bridge in the country to date. It is second only to the 6th October, Cairo bridge in Egypt, making it the second-longest bridge in Africa. As long as this may seem, the Third mainland bridge is dwarfed by the bridges that you will find on this list.
The longest bridge in the world is so long that if you place one hundred (100) Third Mainland Bridges end-to-end, it would still not be enough to reach 75% of its actual length. These are the sizes that we are dealing with in this article.
Relax and enjoy the ride as we cruise through the ten longest bridges in the world today.
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Top 10 Longest Bridges In The World (2021)
1. Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge
This railway bridge is located on a speedway that connects Beijing to shanghai. The bridge was officially opened in 2011, after its construction, which cost about 8.6 billion USD, began in 2006, ended in 2010. It is elevated 30meters above the ground and it is 7pmeters wide.
All these are undeniably impressive, yes, but what sets this bridge apart from the other bridges on our list is undoubtedly its length; at 164km or 104miles. Think about this; if you are in a car moving at a constant speed of 160km/h, it would still take you over one hour to completely cross this bridge. This feat alone has made the Danyang-Kushan Grand bridge, the longest bridge in the world.
2. Changhua–Kaohsiung Viaduct
This serves as the main railway channel for the Taiwan Railway Transit system. The bridge which no doubt, costs an insane amount of money to construct, was completed in 2004, and it spans a length of 157.317km.
Contrary to what one would expect from a long bridge like this, it is remarkably sturdy and even resistant to tremors and earthquakes even though it was constructed across various fault lines in a country like Taiwan that is quite prone to various seismic events.
3. Kita-Yaita Bridge
The Kita-Yaita Viaduct is a bridge that connects the region of Kita to that of Yaita in the country of Japan. Having been completed in 1982, the Railway bridge was the longest in the world prior to the creation of the aforementioned two, as it spans a total length of 114,424km.
4. Candge Grand Bridge
China continues to bombard us with great achievements in the field of civil engineering, creating many of the bridges on this list. The Candge Bridge is no exception, being one of China’s longest bridges as well as the 4th longest bridge in the world.
Made up of 3092 piers, the 2010 completed bridge is in a class of its own, conveying millions every year.
5. Tianjin Grand Bridge
Connecting the Qingxian and Langfang areas of China, the railway is also a part of the Beijing-shanghai High-speed railway. Having a length of 113km makes it the 5th longest bridge on earth. After years of gruelling construction, the structure was completed in 2010, and then it was opened just a year after.
6. Weinan Weihe Grand Bridge
This bridge is solely responsible for connecting the Zhengzhou and X’ian province in China and it comes in 6th place on our list. The 79.732km is long enough to cross the Wei river two times. Although the bridge was finished in 2008, it wasn’t until two years later, in 2010 that the railway line was commission. Its length places it as the 6th longest bridge ever built on earth.
7. Bang Na Expressway
Now, the Bang Na Expressway is also located in the continent of Asia, Thailand to be precise. Over 1,800 cubic meters of grade A concretes were used for the construction of the 55km long bridge. For eight good years after its construction, the structure was recorded to be the longest ever built car bridge in the world. Today, however, it stands as the 7th longest bridge on the global scale.
8. Beijing Grand Bridge
Of course, this bridge is in China, it is a railway viaduct that does a really good job of connecting Shanghai to Beijing. It is 48.15km long has been opened for ten years, after its construction ended in 2010.
9. Lake Pontchartrain Causeway
Popularly known as The causeway, the two parallel fixed link bridges extend their 38.35km or 28.83 mile length across the famous Pontchartrain lake in the southeastern region of Louisiana. After a lot of Guinness World Records controversy on the structure’s achievement, it was later agreed that It was the longest continuous bridge over water in the world; a title it still holds today.
The Southbound terminus of the bridge was opened on the 30th of August 1956, while its Northbound Terminus was finally opened on the 10th of May, 1969.
10. Line 1 Wuhan Metro Bridge
This bridge happens to be the longest continuous metro viaduct that exists in the world today. This metro runs across 32 different stations and has various of its segments constructed over various periods of time.
It is responsible for the safe transit of 404,100 individuals on a daily basis. Of course, the bridge was built in China.
Conclusion
If you are probably wondering why all the bridges on this list are from Asia, well, that is because Asia is the continent with the largest landmass, this means that going from one place to the other would take a considerable amount of time, especially when navigating the complex Asian terrain.
Bridges go a long way in helping to close up that gap. I hope you had a nice ride reading this.