Even the shortest of the 11 longest bridges in the world is over 29,000 meters in length. Building a bridge is not an easy task by any means. Even a bridge of meager length requires extensive labor and material, and can cost millions of dollars. On the other hand, the 11 most expensive bridges ever built all cost over a billion dollars each.
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We are yet to come up with a standard way in order to determine the length of a bridge. While some bridges are mentioned from the entrance ramp until the exit ramp, other bridges involve the total length of all the construction materials which are involved in the building of the bridge. Hence, it is hard to properly determine the total length of a bridge, objectively. However, we have used the Guinness Book of World Records among other news websites in order to rank the 11 longest bridges in the world. It should come as no surprise to know that China, the pioneer country in making bridges at a comparatively cheap cost, has eight bridges that feature on our list while the United States has two bridge featuring on this list.
11. Donghai Bridge
Length of bridge: 32,500 meters
This bridge, located in Yangshan Port and Shanghai, is not only one of the longest bridges in the world but also is one of the longest cross-sea bridges in the world. The bridge was built to connect Yangshan Port with the Pudong Area in Shanghai. The bridge makes up a portion of the S2 Hulu Expressway, and was opened back in 2005.
10. Runyang Yangtze River Bridge
Length of bridge: 35,660 meters
Located in China, this bridge was built after a construction period of five years and was built to link Yangzhou and Zhenjiang. The cost of the bridge amounted to over $700 million, and was opened in April 2005.
9. Hangzhou Bridge
Length of bridge: 35,673 meters
It may come as a shock to know that this bridge is in China, but it is. Built in 2007 after construction began in 2003. The bridge connects Shanghai and Ningbo, and reduced the travel time by half, from 4 hours to 2 hours. The bridge was designed after a decade of extensive consultations by 600 experts.
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8. Yangcun Bridge
Length of bridge: 35, 812 meters
Constructed for the Beijing-Tianjin Intercity Railway, this nearly 36-kilometer bridge was built in 2007 to facilitate the movement of high-speed trains, which regularly travel at over 300 kilometers per hour.
7. Manchac Swamp Bridge
Length of bridge: 36,710 meters
Finally, a bridge from the United States makes the list in the form of the Manchac Swamp Bridge, which was built to carry the Interstate 55 over a swamp known as the Manchac Swamp. Opened in 1979, the bridge cost almost 7 million dollars for every mile.
6. Lake Pontchartrain Causeway
Length of bridge: 38,442 meters
The causeway features two bridges both of which cross the Lake Pontchartrain, and was cited by Guinness as the longest bridge over water in the world. The southbound bridge of the Causeway was opened in 1956 while the northbound bridge opened in 1969. An estimated 43,000 travel the Causeway daily.
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5. Beijing Grand Bridge
Length of bridge: 48,153 meters
Located in Beijing, the capital of China, this 48 kilometers long bridge was opened in 2011 and is located on the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway. The railway is over 1,300 kilometers and features some of the longest bridges in the world.
4. Bang Na Expressway
Length of bridge: 54,000 meters
The only bridge not from the United States or China, the Bang Na Expressway is located in Thailand and was completed back in 2000. For a while, it was the longest bridge in the world but is no longer the owner of that title. 1.8 million cubic meters of concrete was necessary for the building of the bridge, which was designed by American Jean M. Muller.
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3. Weinan Weihe Grand Bridge
Length of bridge: 79,732 meters
Part of the railway that connects Xi’an and Zhengzhou, the bridge crosses several lakes and rivers in its 79 -kilometer run, which includes crossing the Wei River twice. Back in 2008 when the bridge was created, it was considered to be the longest bridge in the world, but like the Bang Na Expressway, it has been surpassed by two more bridges in terms of length.
2. Tianjin Grand Bridge
Length of bridge: 113,700 meters
Over 100 kilometers long, the Tianjin Grand Bridge is also part of the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway, which opened back in 2011. The construction period amounted to around four years and it is the second longest bridge in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
1. Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge
Length of bridge: 164,800 meters
The longest bridge in the world is also located on the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway between Nanjing and Shanghai in China. 9 kilometers of the 164-kilometer bridge are over open water, namely the Yanghcheng Lake which is located in Suzhou. It took 10,000 people to build this bridge, which opened in 2011.