The ten highest completed road and rail bridges on Earth, ranked by deck height — the vertical drop from the deck to the ground or water below — led by China's Huajiang Canyon Bridge at 625 metres.
The Huajiang Canyon Bridge in Guizhou, China, is the highest bridge in the world, with its deck 625 m above the Beipan River. The Duge Bridge is second at 565 m and the Sidu River Bridge third at 496 m. The ranking uses deck height of completed road and rail bridges, from Wikipedia's List of highest bridges citing HighestBridges.com, as of October 2026.
These are the ten highest completed road and rail bridges in the world, ranked by deck height — the maximum vertical distance from the bridge deck (the roadway or rail bed) down to the ground or water surface beneath the span. This is a different measure than a bridge's structural height, which runs from the top of its towers to the lowest point where its piers emerge. China dominates this ranking, with nine of the top ten bridges, most of them in the mountainous southwestern provinces of Guizhou and Yunnan where deep river gorges demand extraordinary engineering. The record holder, the Huajiang Canyon Bridge, opened in September 2025 with its deck 625 metres above the Beipan River. The only non-Chinese bridge in the top ten is Mexico's Baluarte Bridge.
The highest bridge in the world, opened in September 2025 over the Beipan River in Guizhou, China. Its deck sits 625 metres above the river, and it is a suspension bridge with a 1,420-metre main span on the S57 Liuzhi–Anlong Expressway.
The previous world record holder, opened in 2016 over the Beipan River between Yunnan and Guizhou. Its cable-stayed structure carries the G56 Hangzhou–Ruili Expressway 565 metres above the gorge.
Opened in November 2009 in Hubei province, the Sidu River Bridge held the title of world's highest bridge until the Duge Bridge opened in 2016. Its deck crosses the Sidu River gorge at 496 metres; a dam reservoir lies beneath the bridge.
A suspension bridge on the G56 Hangzhou–Ruili Expressway in Yunnan, opened in 2015. Its deck crosses the Puli River at 485 metres above the valley floor.
A sweeping suspension bridge over the Jinsha River in Yunnan, opened in 2020 on the G4216 Chengdu–Lijiang Expressway. Its deck rises 461 metres above the river, with a main span of 1,386 metres.
A cable-stayed bridge over the Wu River in Guizhou, opened in 2016 on the S82 Guiyang–Qianxi Expressway. Its deck sits 434 metres above the Yachi River gorge.
A suspension bridge over the Beipan River in Guizhou, opened in 2025 on the G7612 Nayong–Xingyi Expressway. Its 410-metre deck height reflects the reservoir of the Guangzhao Dam, which has reduced the drop to the water.
A suspension bridge over the Qingshui River in Guizhou, opened at the end of 2015 as part of the Guiyang–Weng'an expressway. Its deck sits 406 metres above the river.
The only non-Chinese bridge in the top ten, in the Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico on the Sinaloa–Durango border. It carries Federal Highway 40 between Mazatlán and Durango across the Baluarte River gorge, 390 metres above the valley floor, and opened to traffic in 2013.
A cable-stayed bridge in Guizhou, China, opened in 2017 on the S30 Xifeng–Qianxi Expressway. Its deck crosses the Wu River (locally the Yachi/Liuguang River) 375 metres above the water.
| # | Name | River | Design | Main Span | Opened | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huajiang Canyon Bridge | Beipan River | Suspension | 1,420 m | 2025 | Guizhou, China |
| 2 | Duge Bridge | Beipan River | Cable-stayed | 720 m | 2016 | Yunnan–Guizhou, China |
| 3 | Sidu River Bridge | Sidu River | Suspension | 900 m | 2009 | Hubei, China |
| 4 | Puli Bridge | Puli River | Suspension | 628 m | 2015 | Yunnan, China |
| 5 | Jin'an Bridge | Jinsha River | Suspension | 1,386 m | 2020 | Yunnan, China |
| 6 | Yachi River Bridge | Wu River | Cable-stayed | 800 m | 2016 | Guizhou, China |
| 7 | Zangkejiang Bridge | Beipan River | Suspension | 1,080 m | 2025 | Guizhou, China |
| 8 | Qingshui River Bridge | Qingshui River | Suspension | 1,130 m | 2015 | Guizhou, China |
| 9 | Baluarte Bridge | Baluarte River | Cable-stayed | 520 m | 2013 | Sinaloa–Durango, Mexico |
| 10 | Liuguanghe Xiqian Expressway Bridge | Wu River | Cable-stayed | 580 m | 2017 | Guizhou, China |
Bridges are ranked by deck height in metres, as given in Wikipedia's List of highest bridges (completed-bridges table, retrieved 18 October 2026), whose deck heights are sourced to HighestBridges.com (accessed by Wikipedia on 27 September 2025). Deck height is the maximum vertical drop from the bridge deck to the ground or water surface beneath the span; for several bridges a downstream dam reservoir has reduced the height above water, and the figure used is the one in that table. Only completed road and rail bridges are included. Pipeline bridges are excluded — the Wujiao Pipeline Bridge (410 m, 2018) would otherwise tie Zangkejiang at rank 7, and the Hegigio Gorge Pipeline Bridge (393 m) was dismantled in 2023. Bridges under construction are excluded. Rank 1 is the highest; there are no ties among the ten road and rail bridges listed.
Deck height measures the vertical drop from the roadway down to the ground or water below the span. Structural height (for 'tallest') measures from the top of the bridge's towers down to the lowest point where its piers emerge. A bridge can be very high (deep gorge below the deck) without being very tall (towers on high ground). The Huajiang Canyon Bridge is the world's highest but not the tallest — the tallest is the Changtai Yangtze River Bridge at 352 metres.
China's southwestern provinces — especially Guizhou and Yunnan — feature dramatic karst gorges and deep river valleys that demand very high bridges to connect the region's expressway network. China has invested heavily in infrastructure that crosses this challenging terrain, and its bridge-building industry now sets global records in both height and span.
This list covers road and rail bridges only. The Wujiao Pipeline Bridge in Sichuan has a 410-metre deck height and would tie the Zangkejiang Bridge at rank 7; the Hegigio Gorge Pipeline Bridge in Papua New Guinea (393 metres) was dismantled in 2023. Both appear in Wikipedia's completed-bridges table.
More like this: all Engineering & Energy rankings · browse every topic