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THE WORLD’S HIGHEST bridge has opened to traffic in China, connecting two provinces in the mountainous southwest and reducing travel times by as much as three-quarters.
The Beipanjiang Bridge soars 565 metres above a river and connects the two mountainous provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou, the Guizhou provincial transport department said in a statement on its official website.
The bridge cut travel times between Xuanwei in Yunnan to Shuicheng in Guizhou from more than four hours to around one, a truck driver surnamed Duan was quoted by the official news agency Xinhua as saying after the bridge opened Thursday.
It was “very convenient for people who want to travel between these two places”, he added.
The 1,341-metre span cost over 1 billion yuan (€137 million) to build, according to local newspaper Guizhou Daily.
It overtook the Si Du River Bridge in the central province of Hubei to become the world’s highest bridge, a separate statement by the provincial transport department said earlier.
Several of the world’s highest bridges are in China, although the world’s tallest bridge — measured in terms of the height of its own structure, rather than the distance to the ground — remains France’s Millau viaduct at 343 metres.
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€137m? That wouldn’t even pay for the paint if this was built in Ireland!
@Gavin: Wouldn’t even cover the cost of consultants in Ireland
@john:
Indeed hasn’t roughly that amount of money been spent on consultants for Metro North? And not a days construction work has been done.
@Gavin: Best part t is you helped fund it when you bought the latest batch of Christmas presents all made in PRC
Yes and they probably threw 10000 people out of their homes without even a seconds thought or care, but carry on…..
Sadly this is true. Think of much badly needed infrastructure we cold have if it wasnt required to bring in an army of parasitic accountants and lawyers to write reports before any actual work is done.
Or engineers to design it
€151m spent on metro north planning so far. That was before the recent delay. Estimate of €138m per km and €2.5b to build (at 2013 costs).
@Stephen: meanwhile the Spanish can build at 50m euro per km. why nearly 3 times as expensive here?
Because the taxpayer is willing to put up with being shafted
The fact that wages in Ireland are so much higher is a hugely important part too… it’s why everything gets made in China…
If we were willing to work for a fraction of our wages then costs would come down…
OK, let’s subtract the many fractions spent on VAT and taxes, and then build some bridges. And decent roads. Or hire immigrants. That worked for countries with underground public transport. It makes no sense to tax wages on civil engineering projects anyway when they are for the public benefit.
Now that’s engineering news. Not a 15 storey building in limerick
4 spires high well at least they have not got a gang of skangers at the bottom of it.
Me nervesssss
I bet there is no toll to cross it.
Thought longford has worlds tallest bridge
@Adrianholland: No, you’re thinking of the longest ford.
The subheading makes it sound like the bridge is over a kilometre high, when it’s actually a reference to the length of the bridge.
Great bit of engineering.
Made in China
Bungee jumping off that should be interesting.
Well of course it’s tall. It’s a bridge across a deep valley.
That’s a bargain.
How long did it take to build, does anyone know?
You’d be forgiven for thinking that was Fortunate Son being played at the start of the clip.
I thought Song 2 was about to kick in.
Built in three days.
Jaysus I’m gettn vertigo just lookin at it .think I’d take the boreen below it
Now that’s a bridge too far
have your say