Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: THE world’s highest bridge opened in China on September 28, taking the crown from another bridge in the same province.
The Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge soars about 2,050 feet above a river and gorge in the southern Chinese province of Guizhou. It is more than twice as high as the Royal Gorge Bridge, which is suspended 956 feet above the Arkansas River in Colorado and is the highest in the United States, says a report of NBC News.
According to Chinese state media, the new Guizhou bridge also sets a record as the world’s longest bridge in a mountainous region, spanning 4,600 feet.
Hailed as China’s latest “infrastructure miracle,” the bridge is designed to spur tourism and economic growth in one of the country’s least developed regions. The mega project, constructed over three years and eight months, will cut travel time between the two sides of the canyon from two hours to two minutes and connect major tourist spots, officials said.
Tian Hongrui, a technician for the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge, said he felt “proud to have left a mark.” The bridge has a highspeed glass elevator that can send visitors to a coffee spot 2,600 feet above the river. Visitors can also try bungee jumping or a 1,900-foot-high glass walkway.
The province of Guizhou, which is home to about 40 million people, has undergone an infrastructure campaign in recent decades as part of the Chinese government’s war on poverty. It now has more than 32,000 bridges that are either completed or under construction, compared with about 2,900 in the 1980s. Guizhou is also home to what is now the world’s second-highest bridge, Duge Bridge, which opened in 2016.