Posted by Today, a question suddenly popped into my head: Just how long is the world’s longest bridge?
Some bridges stretch on for what feels like forever when you’re driving across them—truly endless! Once that thought took hold, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I put down what I was doing and decided to look into it properly.
Curiosity sparked by an old photo
It all started quite by accident. While organizing old stuff in the garage, I dug up a photo from years ago—showing me driving across an exceptionally long bridge. Water stretched endlessly on both sides, yet I couldn’t recall which bridge it was!
This piqued my interest. Leaning against the dusty workbench, I pulled out my phone and searched: “The longest bridge in the world.”
Online Information Is Too Chaotic!
Guess what? The search results were incredibly confusing.
Some websites claimed the longest bridge was in China, others said Thailand, and a few mentioned France. Many articles used technical terms like “elevated bridge”—at first I thought they meant those bridges with beautiful arches, but later I realized: elevated bridges are simply long bridges built at height, often part of railways or highways.
To figure it out, I even opened a map and tried marking each bridge mentioned:
- Zooming in near Shanghai, China: Wow, dense networks of rivers and bridges like a spider web;
- Near Bangkok, Thailand: There really is an ultra-long highway bridge;
- France has one too, but it doesn’t look very long—just exceptionally tall.
I tried comparing their lengths visually, but ended up dizzy and couldn’t tell which was longer.
A Different Approach: Organizing Carefully
Later, I realized randomly clicking through web pages wouldn’t work. So I closed all the messy tabs, opened a document, and decided to only look at official data and rank the top five by length.
This process turned out to be far more complicated than I’d imagined:
- Some “single bridges” are actually multiple spans connected together—do they count as “one”?
- Does “longest” mean entirely over water, or does it include land sections?
- I even mixed up ‘height’ and “length” at one point—like that French bridge, which isn’t long but is incredibly tall. Standing on it makes your legs go weak!
I couldn’t resist watching several drone videos along the way: trains speeding across these colossal bridges, with shots soaring from one end to the other—taking several minutes! Before I knew it, I’d spent half an hour binge-watching videos…
My List of “Longest Bridges” (Most Reliable Version)
After cross-referencing multiple authoritative websites, maps, and engineering documents, I compiled the currently recognized longest bridges:
- Dan-Kun Grand Bridge (China)
Approximately 165 kilometers (over 100 miles) long! This is part of the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway. If you take the bullet train from Danyang to Kunshan, you’re essentially traveling on a bridge the entire way. By car, it takes over an hour to cross—truly feels like driving through the sky. - Changhua–Kaohsiung Elevated Railway (Taiwan, China)
This section of Taiwan’s high-speed rail spans over 150 kilometers. Also built as an elevated railway bridge, it cuts through the entire western plains. - Zangde Bridge (China)
Located near Tianjin, this high-speed rail-dedicated bridge stretches approximately 120 kilometers. China has truly built many of these ultra-long bridges! - Tianjin Grand Bridge (China)
Also part of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail line, it spans nearly 110 kilometers. You might not recognize the name, but you’ve likely crossed it on a high-speed train. - Boonnerth Overpass (Thailand)
This urban elevated highway stretches about 54 kilometers. While not as long as China’s high-speed rail bridges, it’s exceptionally lengthy for a highway bridge.
Special mention: France’s Millau Viaduct: At just 2.5 kilometers long, it doesn’t rank in the top ten. But it stands 343 meters high—taller than the Eiffel Tower! Looking down from the bridge is genuinely terrifying. So while it’s not the “longest,” it’s definitely one of the “highest.”
Final Thoughts
What started as a casual search ended up consuming my entire afternoon. The garage still isn’t tidied up, but at least I now know: the world’s longest bridges are truly unimaginably vast. Unless you see aerial footage, it’s hard to grasp just how far “165 kilometers” really is.
Next time I drive or take a train across a long bridge, I’ll probably take a second look and think about how much effort engineers poured into it.
Alright, time to get back to organizing the garage! If you’re also into this kind of trivia, why not try looking it up yourself—you might just find yourself diving headfirst into a “rabbit hole of knowledge” and never coming back up!
