Guizhou's five record-setting bridges

Editor's note: Guizhou province in Southwest China is a mountainous area, with 92.5 percent of its land covered by mountains and hills. The province has built nearly 30,000 bridges since the late 1970s. These eye-catching bridges facilitated transportation, bringing greater benefits to local residents.

Beipanjiang Bridge: World's highest bridge

Beipanjiang Bridge in Southwest China's Guizhou province is the world's highest bridge with the height of 565.4 meters above the Beipanjiang Grand Valley. [Photo by Liu Yelin/For chinadaily.com.cn]

Located on the boundary of Southwest China's Guizhou province and Yunnan province, Beipanjiang Bridge sits over 565.4 meters above the Beipanjiang Grand Valley and has a largest span of 720 meters, making it the world's highest bridge and the second-longest steel girder cable-stayed bridge.

With a total length of 1,341.4 meters, the four-lane bridge was opened to traffic in December 2016, as a part of an expressway linking Hangzhou city in East China's Zhejiang province and Ruili city in Guizhou's neighboring Yunnan province. It has shortened the travel time between Liupanshui city in Guizhou province and Xuanwei city in Yunnan province from over 4 hours to within 1 hour.

In 2018, the bridge won the Gustav Lindenthal Medal, considered the Nobel Prize in the international bridge industry. In 2019, it received the Award of Special Merit of the International Federation of Consulting Engineers, another prestigious international bridge award.

Qingshuihe Bridge: World's sixth-highest bridge

An aerial view of Qingshuihe Bridge in Southwest China's Guizhou province. [Photo/VCG]

Qingshuihe Bridge is the world's sixth-highest and China's second-highest bridge with a height of 406 meters.

As a part of Guiyang-Weng'an Expressway, the bridge, spanning 2,171 meters, links Kaiyang county and Weng'an county in Guizhou province. Since its operation in December 2016, the travel time between Guiyang city and Weng'an county has shortened to 1 hour.

Balinghe Bridge: World-class base of extreme sports

Balinghe Bridge in Anshun city, Southwest China's Guizhou province. [Photo/VCG]

Located in Anshun, Guizhou province, Balinghe Bridge is a suspension bridge over the Balinghe Valley connecting Zhenning and Shengjingguan in the province.

As China's longest steel truss suspension bridge, it has a total length of 2,237 meters, with the main span crossing the river extending 1,088 meters.

The bridge is a world-class base of extreme sports, including bungee jump, parachuting, trapeze and gliding. With a height of 370 meters, it is the highest Guinness-certified commercial bungee jump facility.

As a key section of the G60 Shanghai-Kunming Expressway, it opened to traffic in December 2009, slashing the travel time across the river from 1 hour to 4 minutes.

In 2014, it won the Luban Prize for Construction Projects, regarded as the Oscars of Chinese architecture.

Pingtang Bridge: World's highest reinforced concrete bridge tower

An aerial view of fog-shrouded Pingtang Bridge in Southwest China's Guizhou province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Pingtang Bridge, constructed in a mountainous area of Guizhou province, has the world's highest reinforced concrete bridge tower. The tower, 332 meters high, stands equivalent to a 110-storey skyscraper.

The bridge, spanning 2,135 meters across the Caodu River Valley, serves as a major connection on the Pingtang-Luodian Expressway. Opened to traffic in December 2019, it has cut the travel time between Pingtang and Luodian from 2.5 hours to 1 hour.

Its unique design features classical attire and dance elements of local ethnic groups, thus blending strength and beauty. In 2021, it was awarded the Gustav Lindenthal Medal.

Near the bridge is the Sky Bridge service zone. It is a tourist destination-type of service area, featuring a bridge museum and a sightseeing hotel.

Yachihe Bridge: World's longest steel truss, cable-stayed bridge

An aerial view of Yachihe Bridge in Southwest China's Guizhou province. [Photo/VCG]

Yachihe Bridge, standing 434 meters above the Yachi River on the boundary between Qianxi county and Qingzhen city in Guizhou province, has a total length of 1,450 meters. Its 800-meter span is the world's longest for a steel truss, cable-stayed bridge structure.

After the bridge was open to traffic in July 2016, the travel time between Guiyang city and Qianxi county was cut down from 2 hours to 50 minutes.

In 2018, it won the Gustav Lindenthal Medal.