Puli Bridge, China: the highest automobile bridge, 485 m
Puli Bridge is located in the southernmost Chinese province of Yunnan. Its length is 1,790 m, which is quite modest for China, which is prone to gigantomania. But the height is impressive even for the Celestial Empire – one shouldn’t look down while driving on the bridge. However, for real tourists – the higher the better, so many travelers specifically go to Yunnan for dizzying selfies and impressions.
The decking offers a beautiful view of the Ghexiang River gorge and the impenetrable jungle of South China. Especially for the lovers of beautiful scenery, there are walking paths on the bridge.
Siduhe Bridge, China: The tallest wide-bay bridge at 496 meters
The Siduhe Bridge was designed at such a high altitude that it had to be built with… rockets. Engineers used to tie kilometers of steel cables to the rockets and then launch them. That’s the only way to throw the cables over the deep ravine over which the bridge spans.
It was commissioned in 2009 and connected in a straight line the two important Chinese megacities of Shanghai and Chongqing. The bridge is 1,222 meters long and has 6 lanes for vehicular traffic. Until 2016 the bridge was the highest in the world, but even now it remains the pride of Hubei province, which is sure to show tourists.
Duge Bridge, China: the highest cable-stayed bridge, 565 m
In 2016 the highest bridge in China, the Duge Bridge, was opened, under which a half-kilometer chasm gapes. It connects China’s southern provinces of Guizhou and Yunnan, spanning 1,340 meters. The original plan was to place the structure much lower. But the engineers were hindered on both sides by karst caves in the local mountains. The planners had to raise the height of the structure over and over again, and eventually it made it into… the Guinness Book of Records.
It is considered to be the highest cable-stayed bridge on the planet and is second only to the bridge on the Russky Island by the length of the main span (720 m). The bridge is actively visited by tourists. Interestingly, the guidebooks recommend them to take cameras “for aerial photography” – so high is the height of the construction!