Buildings & Structures
The Tallest Bridges in the World
From China's Changtai Yangtze River Bridge and France's Millau Viaduct on down, the world's tallest bridges open to traffic, ranked by structural height. That means the distance from the top of the tallest tower or pylon down to the lowest exposed part of the structure, where its pier or tower meets the ground or water. This is a different list from the highest bridges in the world, which ranks how far the deck sits above the ground or water below it: a deep-gorge bridge with short towers can top that list and miss this one entirely. Design offices don't always measure the same way (some include tower-top ornaments or foundations), so heights for the same bridge can differ by a few meters between sources. Bridges still under construction aren't included.
Pictured: the Changtai Yangtze River Bridge in Jiangsu, China, #1 at 352 m.
The Top 10
#1
Changtai Yangtze River Bridge — 352 m
Opened to traffic on September 9, 2025, this 10.3 km crossing links Changzhou and Taizhou in Jiangsu province. Its towers rise about 350 meters, roughly the height of a 120-story skyscraper, and its structural height of 352 meters took the world title from the Millau Viaduct. The towers carry a 1,208-meter main span, the longest of any cable-stayed bridge. It is also the first crossing of the Yangtze to carry an expressway, an ordinary road and an intercity railway on the same structure, and it cut the trip between the two cities from more than an hour to about 20 minutes.[1]
#2
Millau Viaduct — 343 m
Designed by engineer Michel Virlogeux with architect Norman Foster, this 2,460-meter cable-stayed viaduct carries the A75 motorway across the Tarn valley in southern France. It was inaugurated on December 14, 2004, and opened to traffic two days later. The top of its tallest mast stands 343 meters above the base of its tallest pier, which on its own is about 245 meters high. Some sources give 336.4 meters, measuring a little differently. Eiffage built it for about €394 million and runs it under a 75-year concession. Its deck sits about 270 meters above the valley floor, which is high by any standard but well short of the deep-gorge bridges on the deck-height list.[2]
#3
Pingtang Bridge — 332 m
This 2,135-meter, three-tower cable-stayed bridge carries the Pingtang–Luodian Expressway across the Caodu River valley in Guizhou on two 550-meter spans. Its 332-meter middle tower, about as tall as a 110-story building, is billed as the world's tallest reinforced-concrete bridge tower. Construction started in April 2016 and cost 1.5 billion yuan (about $214 million). The bridge opened at the end of December 2019, and it later won the Gustav Lindenthal Medal at the International Bridge Conference.[3]
#4
Hutong Yangtze River Bridge — 330 m
Also called the Shanghai–Suzhou–Nantong Yangtze River Bridge, this 11 km double-deck crossing opened on July 1, 2020, the same day as the Nantong–Shanghai railway that runs across it. A six-lane expressway runs on the upper deck and four railway tracks on the lower one. Its 1,092-meter main span made it the first road-rail cable-stayed bridge with a span over 1,000 meters. Most lists give its diamond-shaped concrete towers as 330 meters tall. Structurae and the formwork contractor Doka give 325 meters.[4]
#5
Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge — 322 m
The third bridge over Istanbul's Bosphorus opened on August 26, 2016, north of the city's two older suspension bridges. It is a hybrid of a cable-stayed and a suspension bridge, designed by Michel Virlogeux (also behind #2) and Jean-François Klein, and its 59-meter-wide deck carries both a motorway and a railway. Its 1,408-meter main span was a world record for a bridge carrying rail when it opened. Its towers are usually given as 322 meters. Turkey's highways agency, KGM, puts them at 330.[5]
#6
Russky Bridge — 319.1 m
Crossing the Eastern Bosphorus Strait between Vladivostok and Russky Island, this bridge was completed in July 2012 and opened by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, ahead of the APEC summit the city hosted on the island that September. Its 1,104-meter central span was the longest of any cable-stayed bridge until Changtai (#1) opened in 2025. Its two A-shaped pylons are given as anywhere from 319 to 321 meters depending on the reference point. The bridge also appears on Russia's 2,000-ruble banknote.[6]
#7
1915 Çanakkale Bridge — 318 m
Opened on March 18, 2022, this suspension bridge across the Dardanelles has a 2,023-meter main span, the longest in the world. It broke the record that Japan's Akashi Kaikyō Bridge (#12) had held since 1998. Its numbers are symbolic: the 318-meter towers and the March 18 date both nod to the Ottoman naval victory of March 18, 1915, and the span length marks the Turkish Republic's centenary in 2023. With their decorative tops the red-and-white towers reach 334 meters, which would put it third on this list if ornaments counted.[7]
#8
Sutong Yangtze River Bridge — 300.4 m
This 8,206-meter crossing near the mouth of the Yangtze opened to traffic on May 25, 2008, and was officially opened that June 30. Its 1,088-meter main span was the longest of any cable-stayed bridge from 2008 until the Russky Bridge (#6) opened in 2012. Its towers are often quoted at 306 meters, while Wikipedia's ranking uses 300.4. The bridge won the American Society of Civil Engineers' Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement award in 2010.[8]
#9
Yunwu Bridge — 300 m
Opened on June 28, 2021, this 1,720-meter cable-stayed bridge carries the G7611 Duyun–Shangri-La Expressway over the Liaomi River valley in Guizhou's Guiding County. Its two towers are different heights, 300 meters on the west side and 273 meters on the east, and between them hangs a 480-meter main span about 235 meters above the valley. It is one of three Guizhou mountain bridges on this list, along with Pingtang (#3) and Duge (#17).[9]
#10
Stonecutters Bridge — 298 m
Carrying Route 8 across Hong Kong's Rambler Channel between Tsing Yi and Stonecutters Island, this cable-stayed bridge opened on December 20, 2009. Its 1,018-meter main span was the longest in the world for a cable-stayed bridge when construction began, and the second-longest by the time it opened. Its two single-column towers, concrete with stainless-steel upper sections, reach 298 meters above Hong Kong's height datum, according to the Highways Department. Wikipedia's infobox gives 293.5 meters. The design also had to stand up to the region's typhoon winds.[10]
Sources
- South China Morning Post, Bridgeweb, Heise and Inspenet coverage of the Changtai Yangtze River Bridge's September 9, 2025 opening, its 1,208 m span, road-rail layout and travel-time savings, plus CGTN's June 2024 report on the main span's closure and Wikipedia's "List of tallest bridges" and "List of highest bridges" for its 352 m structural height.
- Wikipedia and Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) entries for the Millau Viaduct (length, designers, Eiffage concession, €394 million cost, December 2004 opening, 343 m vs. 336.4 m height), plus Foster + Partners' project video.
- China Daily, Xinhua (gov.cn), Bridgeweb and Wikipedia coverage of the Pingtang Bridge (tower height, 2×550 m spans, December 2019 opening, cost, Gustav Lindenthal Medal).
- Structurae, Doka and Xinhua (via China Daily) entries for the Hutong (Shanghai–Suzhou–Nantong) Yangtze River Bridge, for its July 1, 2020 opening, 1,092 m span, deck layout and 330 m / 325 m tower heights.
- Turkey's General Directorate of Highways (KGM), VINCI, Webuild, Structurae and Wikipedia entries for the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge (August 26, 2016 opening, 1,408 m span, 322 m / 330 m towers, deck width, designers).
- Structurae, Wikipedia and Visit Primorye entries for the Russky Bridge (1,104 m span, July 2012 completion, 319.1–320.9 m pylons), plus Freyssinet's Vladivostok bridges slideshow.
- Structurae, ENR (Global Project of the Year), Bridgeweb and the bridge's opening press release for the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge (March 18, 2022 opening, 2,023 m span, 318 m towers, 334 m with tower-top ornaments, the symbolism of its dimensions).
- Structurae, ENR, AECOM and Wikipedia entries for the Sutong Yangtze River Bridge (2008 opening, 1,088 m span, 306 m vs. 300.4 m tower height, 2010 ASCE award).
- Wikipedia's Yunwu Bridge entry, which draws on HighestBridges.com (June 28, 2021 opening, tower heights, span, clearance and expressway).
- Hong Kong Highways Department fact sheet, Arup and Structurae entries for the Stonecutters Bridge (December 20, 2009 opening, 1,018 m span, +298 mPD towers), plus Wikipedia for its 293.5 m infobox height. Overall ranking checked against Wikipedia's "List of tallest bridges" (structural height, bridges of 200 m or more). Figures for #11–17 come from Wikipedia's Xindu Jinsha River Bridge, Chishi Bridge and Qingshan Yangtze River Bridge entries, a Changsha University of Science & Technology journal abstract (Chishi's 286.63 m tower), Xinhua and Shenzhen government reporting on the Shenzhen–Zhongshan Link (June 30, 2024 opening, 1,666 m span, 270 m towers), Structurae and LUSAS for the Yi Sun-sin Bridge, and Structurae for the Duge Bridge. Bridges not yet open to traffic in October 2026 are excluded, among them the Puzhehei Bridge (planned 385 m), the south channel of the Zhangjinggao Yangtze River Bridge (350 m towers, due in 2028) and the Ma'anshan Yangtze River road-rail bridge (about 345 m).
