A fleet of 96 trucks weighing a whopping total of 3,360 metric tons drove down the world’s highest bridge under construction — the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge in Guizhou province, China — on Monday to test its load-bearing capacity.
The simulated traffic congestion was the final structural performance test for key bridge components under heavy load, marking a crucial step toward the bridge’s opening in September.
After five days of intensive and orderly inspections, the load test — a comprehensive “physical examination” essential for verifying the bridge’s structural safety and load-bearing capacity — was completed successfully.
“Preliminary analysis of the load test data shows that all measured indicators responded normally,” said Han Hongju, deputy general manager and chief engineer of Guizhou Communications Investment Group, the company that built the bridge.
Stretching 2,890 meters in total length with a main span of 1,420 meters, the bridge towers 625 meters above the Beipan River.
Once open, it will be the world’s highest bridge and longest bridge span in mountainous terrain.
From this “clothesline”, 91 pairs of “hangers” are suspended vertically, spaced 15.4 meters apart. Below these hangs a large “clothes-drying platform” — the bridge deck — which is 8 meters high, 30.5 meters wide, and weighs approximately 22,000 tons.
Construction of the bridge began in January 2022, and the bridge is expected to open to traffic in late September.
