Crosses Beipan River Material Steel and concrete Total length 388 m Bridge type Suspension bridge Province Guizhou | Design Suspension bridge Clearance below 366 m Opened 2003 Body of water Beipan River | |
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Carries Xingyi to Guiyang Highway (Guanxing_Highway) Locale near Huajiang town, Guizhou, China Other name(s) Beipanjiang River 2003 Bridge Address Guanling, Anshun, Guizhou, China Similar Beipan River Hukun Ex, Beipan River Shuibai R, Liuguanghe Bridge, Baling River Bridge, Zhijing River Bridge | ||
The Beipan River Guanxing Highway Bridge or Beipanjiang River 2003 Bridge is a 366 metre high suspension bridge on the Guanxing Highway near Xingbei Town (Xinbeizhen), Zhenfeng County, Guizhou Province, China. The bridge has a span length of 388 metres. When it opened in 2003 it was the world's highest bridge. It held that title until the opening of the Hegigio Gorge Pipeline Bridge in 2005.
Height
When the bridge was completed in 2003 it was the highest in the world sitting 366 metres above the Beipan River. The bridge became the second Chinese span in two years to take the record. The first was the Liuguanghe Bridge in 2001. In 2009 a dam was constructed down stream from the bridge reducing the drop to the water slightly.
The Beipan River Guanxing Highway Bridge was the first suspension bridge to break the 1,000-foot (300 m) and 300 metre height thresholds (the Liuguanghe Bridge also passes these thresholds but is a beam bridge) as well as the first suspension bridge in the world to surpass the height of Colorado’s Royal Gorge Bridge after a 74-year reign. The bridge is also the second of 3 Beipan River crossings to have been among the world’s 10 highest. The first was the 902-foot (275 m) high (275 m) Beipanjiang River Railway Bridge which opened in 2001 and will remain the highest train bridge in the world until 2016 when China’s Najiehe Railway Bridge and Qinglong Railway Bridge are due to open. The Beipan River Hukun Expressway Bridge, the third bridge to cross high above the Beipanjiang opened in 2009 on the Guiyang to Kunming Highway with a suspension span 1,083 feet (330 m) above the river.