Have you ever wondered: "What is the longest bridge in the world?"
This title is frequently passed from bridge to bridge over time because of the constant advancement in technology, engineering, and countries’ desires to streamline transportation.
What is the Longest Bridge in the World?
While this may appear to be an easy question to answer, there are actually multiple ways to define the “longest” bridge in the world. Check below to see what we mean.
Defining the Longest Bridge
There are quite a few ways to define what the longest bridge is, depending on the bridge’s classification and features. You can define it as a single bridge structure, one that crosses a lake or sea, or the specific type of bridge that it is.
Longest Bridge
The longest actual bridge in the world is the Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge in the Jiangsu Province of China. The bridge is a viaduct and is part of the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway.
It is not a car bridge but was built for rail to cross the expansive Yangtze River Delta. It took over four years to build and is 164.8 km long (~102 miles).
Since 2011, the Danyang-Kunshan bridge holds the Guinness World Record for the longest bridge, no matter the type of bridge or whether it crosses land or water.
Another neat fact about the longest bridges on the planet is that four out of the top 5 longest bridges are actually in China! Asia is at the top of the list when it comes to crafting unique and innovative bridges, including the Danyang-Kunshan bridge.
Longest Continuous Bridge
There is a difference between the longest bridge in the world, the longest aggregate bridge, and the longest continuous bridge. In bridge talk, "continuous" means it is uninterrupted and isn’t broken up by land, multiple bridges, or breaks in the bridge.
The entire span of these bridges is over water with only towers or footings in the water to support it.
The longest continuous bridge in the world is the Second Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Bridge over Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana. The causeway was built in 1969 as a way to help commuters reach New Orleans without having to drive completely around the lake. The bridge continuously spans 38.422 kilometers (23.87 miles) of water and is the longest bridge in the U.S.
Longest Sea Bridge
From a lake to the sea, there is another bridge that can be considered the longest bridge in the world. The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge just outside of Hong Kong is the world’s longest sea bridge (aggregate) and was completed in 2018.
This bridge is longer than the Second Lake Pontchartrain Causeway but isn’t a continuous bridge but is an aggregate bridge. In other words, it is a bridge that is made up of multiple segments.
These segments include three man made islands, two sections, and a tunnel. The bridge crosses 31 miles of roadway above the sea and islands that make up the bay of Hong Kong. Crisscrossing this bridge system isn’t a slow commute either. It takes around 30 minutes to travel from one side of the bridge to the other.
Longest Suspension Bridge
When you think of bridges, most people imagine what are called suspension bridges. These are bridges that are supported by long, vertical cables that are connected to longer cables between towers. Two of the most famous examples of a suspension bridge would be the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco or the Tower Bridge in London.
The world’s longest suspension bridge is the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in Japan. The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, or Pearl Bridge, is 2.4 miles long and stretches across the Akashi Strait. A unique fact about this bridge is it isn’t only constructed to support over 20,000 commuters a day, it’s also built to withstand massive earthquakes and typhoons.
Intrigued? Learn about more amazing bridges »
