New aerial images have emerged of an incredible new bridge that will soon break the world record as the tallest bridge ever built.
Upon completion, the Huajing Grand Canyon Bridge is expected to drastically cut the current 70-minute journey time to cross the whole canyon to just one minute.
The 9,481-foot-long bridge is pivotal to the local government’s hopes to boost tourism in the Guizhou province of China and prompt “rural revitalisation.”
The new snaps showed one of the bridge towers mounted with cranes as a steel main cable stretched to an already-finished tower nearby.
The Huajing Grand Canyon Bridge is expected to stand 2,050 feet over the Bedpan River – about as tall as two stacked Eiffel Towers.
The project is expected to be completed in 2025 after nearly three years and hundreds of engineers involved in the planning and building process.
The project’s chief engineer, Liu Hao, said several of the contractors involved in building the bridge are aged 35 and under and became involved because of their curiosity.
Liu said: “Filled with curiosity and passion, young people tend to embrace new things more easily without being affected by experiences. They also have a strong capability to learn.”
One of the workers, Wang Songyu, told China Daily: “It’s my great honour to build roads and bridges for the benefit of the people.”
Swedish company Alimak, which provided equipment to build the bridge, said builders encountered “distinctive challenges” when tackling the Huajing Grand Canyon Bridge project.
A spokesperson for the company said: “Being in a plateau region intensifies atmospheric temperature differences between day and night, leading to the likelihood of severe convective weather and consistent valley winds throughout the year.”
Over the past two decades, Beijing has heavily invested in modernising existing infrastructure and building new ones.
According to engineering savants website Highestbridges.com, 18 of the 20 tallest bridges in the world are currently in China.
At the moment, the world’s highest bridge, towering over 500 metres high and costing a staggering £111m to construct, is the Beipanjiang Bridge, also known as Duge Bridge.
The structure stands at an impressive height of 565m and spans 720 metres in width.
Often shrouded in clouds and mist, the bridge offers awe-inspiring views due to its lofty position above the turbulent river and surrounded by towering mountains. It has become a popular attraction for sightseers.
