Radio Cadena Agramonte emisiora de Camagüey
This Sunday, September 28, the residents of Guizhou Province, in southwest China, experienced a historic day with the opening of a new bridge over the Huajiang Grand Canyon, a megastructure that becomes the highest bridge on the planet.
After three years of construction, the structure—which rises 625 meters above the Beipan River, almost nine times the height of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge—drastically reduces travel time through the deep canyon, from more than two hours to just two minutes.
The Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge established itself as a milestone in modern engineering by holding two world records. In addition to its record vertical height above the canyon, the 2,890-meter-long structure has a main support span of 1,420 meters, making it the longest steel truss suspension bridge built in mountainous terrain.
This feat displaces the previous record holder, the Beipanjiang Bridge, also located in Guizhou and spanning the same river just over 100 kilometers away, with a height of 565.4 meters. The new bridge is a symbol of the rapid expansion of infrastructure in the world's second-largest economy, linking regions previously separated by a natural barrier nicknamed "the Earth's Rift."
The project not only represents a substantial improvement in regional connectivity but also embodies China's technological innovation. Provincial authorities emphasized that the project incorporated multiple advances in wind-resistance design and high-altitude construction, obtaining 21 authorized patents and laying new groundwork that have been accepted as national standards for bridge construction.
To overcome the enormous challenges posed by the canyon, the engineering team employed cutting-edge technology. Construction required the use of satellite navigation, drones, intelligent monitoring systems, and ultra-high-strength materials to achieve millimeter-level accuracy. These innovations have been crucial in transforming previously insurmountable geographical barriers into a vital transportation corridor.
The province of Guizhou, historically one of the least developed in China due to its mountainous terrain, is an example of the boom in infrastructure construction. The region is home to nearly half of the 100 highest bridges in the world, with a total of more than 30,000 bridges built over the years. The combined length of its existing and under-construction bridges exceeds 5,400 kilometers, establishing the province as a true "museum of bridges of the world."
Behind these astonishing numbers and record lengths lies a story of perseverance and progressive determination by the people of Guizhou, who have never stopped striving to advance toward the modernization of China. (Source: TeleSur)
