Highest Bridges in the World: Top 10

Highest bridges in the world are led by China's Huajiang Canyon Bridge, its deck 625 metres above the river, and nine of the top ten are in China.

This Finepedia guide, written in October 2026, ranks the 10 highest road bridges on Earth by deck height, the vertical gap between the roadway and the valley floor or river beneath. Nine of them cross the deep gorges of south-western China, and one spans a canyon in Mexico. For more on remarkable crossings, see the Finepedia guides Most Dangerous Bridges in the World: Top 10 and Top 10 Longest Suspension Bridge Spans in the World.

How We Chose These

High and tall mean different things for bridges. Height here means deck height, measured from the road surface down to the lowest point beneath it, not the height of the towers, which is what lists of tallest bridges measure. The ranking follows Wikipedia's List of highest bridges, checked against HighestBridges.com and news reports of the newest crossings. We counted only road bridges, so the Wujiao pipeline bridge in Sichuan, also about 410 metres high, is left out. Some bridges cross reservoirs created by dams, so the gap to the water is now smaller than the official figure, and we note this where it applies.

The 10 Highest Bridges at a Glance

1. Huajiang Canyon Bridge Is the World's Highest

The Huajiang Canyon Bridge carries a highway across the Beipan River in Guizhou province, where the river has cut a deep canyon through limestone hills. It opened to traffic on 28 September 2025, beating the Duge Bridge, which spans the same river about 200 km upstream.

Key Facts

• Deck height: 625 metres above the river
• Main span: 1,420 metres, in a crossing 2,890 metres long
• Towers: two, each about 262 metres tall
• Crossing time: just over a minute, against about 70 minutes before

Did You Know?

The bridge was built as a tourist sight as well as a road. It has a glass walkway beneath the deck, a lift up one of the towers to a viewing platform and facilities for bungee jumping and paragliding.

2. Duge Bridge Held the Record for Nine Years

The Duge Bridge, also called the Beipanjiang Bridge, straddles the Guizhou–Yunnan provincial line, spanning a deep canyon cut by the Nizhu, a tributary of the Beipan. It was the highest bridge on Earth from 2016 until the Huajiang Canyon Bridge opened in 2025.

Key Facts

• Deck height: about 565 metres
• Type: cable-stayed, with four traffic lanes
• Route: the G56 Hangzhou–Ruili Expressway
• Tallest tower: about 269 metres

Why It Matters

It carries the expressway between Qujing and Liupanshui, and its eastern tower is one of the tallest bridge towers anywhere. It became a symbol of how new expressways were opening up China's remote, mountainous south-west.

3. Sidu River Bridge Was Strung by Rocket

The Sidu River Bridge crosses a steep valley in Badong County, Hubei province, on the expressway linking Shanghai and Chongqing. On opening, on 15 November 2009, no bridge anywhere had a higher deck.

Key Facts

• Deck height: about 496 metres, though some sources give up to 550 metres
• Length: 1,222 metres
• Cost: about 720 million yuan, roughly 100 million US dollars
• Route: the G50 Shanghai–Chongqing Expressway

Did You Know?

The canyon was too steep and narrow for boats or helicopters, so engineers used a military rocket to fire the first line across. It was the first time a bridge's pilot cable had ever been laid this way.

4. Puli Bridge Turned Four Hours Into One

Close to Xuanwei in Yunnan, the Puli Bridge hangs from cables across a narrow gorge. It opened in August 2015 and carries the same G56 expressway as the Duge Bridge.

Key Facts

• Deck height: about 485 metres
• Main span: 628 metres
• Total length: about 1,040 metres
• Opened: August 2015

Why It Matters

With the new expressway, driving between Xuanwei and the edge of Guizhou now takes about an hour instead of four. Like many bridges in the region, it shows how much a single crossing can change life in the mountains.

5. Jin'an Bridge Spans the Upper Yangtze

The Jin'an Bridge carries the expressway from Chengdu to Lijiang high over the Jinsha River, the name for the upper course of the Yangtze, in Yunnan province. It opened on 31 December 2020.

Key Facts

• Deck height: about 461 metres
• Main span: 1,386 metres, the longest on this list after Huajiang
• Building began: 2016
• Route: the G4216 Chengdu–Lijiang Expressway

Did You Know?

The bridge sits just upstream of a dam, so the reservoir behind it has raised the water level. The full height down to the original riverbed can no longer be seen, even though it is used for the official height.

6. Yachi River Bridge Rises Above a Reservoir

This Guizhou crossing, held up by fans of cables from two towers, joins Qianxi County with Qingzhen near the provincial capital Guiyang. Its 800-metre central span ranks among the world's longest of its type.

Key Facts

• Deck height: 434 metres in the list, with an official figure of 440 metres
• Main span: 800 metres
• Towers: about 258 and 243 metres tall
• Above water today: about 306 metres

Why It Matters

The bridge crosses the reservoir of the Dongfeng Dam, so the gap to the water is much smaller than the distance to the old valley floor. It shows why bridge heights can vary so much between sources.

7. Zangkejiang Bridge Is a 2025 Newcomer

Opened in 2025, the Zangkejiang Bridge hangs across the Beipan on a new Guizhou expressway between Nayong and Xingyi. It is one of three bridges on this list that cross the Beipan.

Key Facts

• Deck height: about 410 metres
• Main span: 1,080 metres
• Opened: 2025
• River: the Beipan, also crossed by the Huajiang and Duge bridges

Did You Know?

The Guangzhao Dam downstream has raised the river under the bridge, so the true gap to the water is now smaller than the figure for the old riverbed. With Huajiang, Duge and Zangkejiang, the Beipan carries three of the ten highest bridges on Earth.

8. Qingshui River Bridge Shortened a Long Detour

Guizhou's Qingshui River Bridge, hung from two tall towers, opened on 31 December 2015. It is among the highest suspension bridges anywhere and also has one of the longest main spans.

Key Facts

• Deck height: about 406 metres
• Main span: 1,130 metres
• Towers: 230 and 224 metres tall
• Cost: about 1.54 billion yuan

Why It Matters

Before it opened, drivers from Weng'an to Guiyang faced a 160 km trip; the bridge brought that down to 38 km. A steel truss under the roadway supports and stiffens its long main span.

9. Baluarte Bridge Is the Highest in the Americas

The Baluarte Bridge carries a highway over a deep ravine high in Mexico's western mountain range, where the states of Durango and Sinaloa meet. It is the only bridge outside China in the top ten.

Key Facts

• Deck height: about 390 metres, and up to 403 metres in some sources
• Total length: 1,124 metres
• Main span: 520 metres
• Opened: inaugurated January 2012; full traffic from late 2013

Did You Know?

Its highway between Durango and the port of Mazatlán shortened the journey from roughly six hours to about 2.5. It replaced a notoriously risky old mountain road nicknamed the Devil's Backbone.

10. Liuguanghe Bridge Completes the Top Ten

The Liuguanghe Bridge, another cable-stayed giant in Guizhou, carries the Xifeng–Qianxi Expressway across the river between Xiuwen and Qianxi. It opened in 2017.

Key Facts

• Deck height: about 375 metres
• Main span: 580 metres
• Total length: about 1,280 metres
• Tallest tower: about 248 metres

Why It Matters

The official height is measured to the old riverbed. Since the Wujiangdu Dam was built downstream, its reservoir has filled the valley under the bridge, so the deck now stands about 300 metres above the water.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which bridge is the highest on Earth?

The record belongs to Guizhou's Huajiang Canyon Bridge, opened in September 2025, whose road sits about 625 metres above the Beipan River. It took the record from the Duge Bridge.

What is the highest railway bridge?

The Chenab Rail Bridge in Jammu and Kashmir, India, holds the rail record, with its deck about 359 metres above the riverbed. Its arch was completed in 2022, and trains began running over it in June 2025.

Conclusion

From the Huajiang Canyon to the Sierra Madre, these ten bridges carry traffic hundreds of metres above deep valleys and rivers. Most were built in the past two decades as China pushed expressways into its mountainous south-west. For more on remarkable crossings, read the Finepedia guides Most Dangerous Bridges in the World: Top 10 and Top 10 Longest Suspension Bridge Spans in the World.