We’ve posted about the two longest bridges in the world which is the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in Louisiana at 23.87 miles and the Jiaozhou Bay Bridge in China’s Shangdon Province spanning 16.6 miles. But that is only true for the common thought about bridges that is over water. The longest bridge of them all that is in the Guinness Book of World Records is actually the rail type that also runs over water, but not entirely.
There is a belief going on that when you come across a bridge for the first time, you can make any wish at the end of that bridge if you are able to hold your breath since the start. Sure, this can be done in local bridges spanning only to a few meters, but I doubt this is possible along the longest bridge in the world.
You want a good challenge? Take a visit in the elevated viaduct connecting Nanjing and Shanghai called the Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge. It spans 102.4 miles that runs parallel to the Yangtze River past lowland rice paddles. It is composed of several bridges, one of which is the Qingdao Haiwan Road Bridge, which is one of the longest bridges in the world over water.
The project took four years to complete with ten thousand workers, and a total project cost enlisted at $8.5 billion. The railway began operating in 2011, the same year Guinness awarded the record to the Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge.
Do you think really think you can go on 102.4 miles without breathing regardless of train speed? Save that challenge somewhere else. Perhaps to that bridge designed by Da Vinci only built 500 years later?
