China opens the cable-stayed bridge with the tallest concrete tower in the world

The Pingtang Bridge project over the Caodu River Valley in Guizhou Province, on December 30, came into operation.

Pingtang Bridge on a river valley in Guizhou province.(Photo: Xinhua).

The 2,135 m long building is part of the Pingtang-Luodian Expressway in southwest China. The bridge has three main bearing concrete towers, of which, the largest tower is 332 meters high, equal to the 110-storey building.

Pingtang currently holds the record for the highest cable-stayed cable-stayed bridge in the world , and among the top 20 highest viaducts with a bridge located 310 m from the river. The project has a construction cost of up to 1.2 billion yuan, equivalent to US $ 170 million.

Once operational, the Pingtang Bridge is the only route leading to FAST's largest radio telescope in Guizhou province. The project helps to shorten the travel time between Pingtang and Luodian districts from two hours and 30 minutes to just one hour.

Guizhou is known as a "museum of giant bridges". This mountainous, hilly terrain has 46 of the 100 tallest bridges in the world.

China is the tallest asymmetrical cable stayed bridge in the world