Longest Bridge in the World 2025

The process of determining the longest bridges in the world is less straightforward than one might expect. The main complication is that there exists no universally accepted method of measuring the length of a bridge. Some bridges are measured from one edge of the obstacle they span to the other (such as the shores of a river). Other bridges are measured by the length of their main span (between the pylons), from their entrance ramp to their exit ramp, from the point they first elevate above ground level to the point at which they touch down again, or by the total distance covered when the bridge was constructed.

The Top 12 Longest Bridges in the World:

Rank	Bridge	Length*				Location	Traffic Type
Rank	Bridge	meters	km	feet	miles	Location	Traffic Type
1	Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge	164,800	165	540,700	102.41	China	High-speed rail
2	Changhua–Kaohsiung Viaduct	157,317	157	516,132	97.75	Taiwan	High-speed rail
3	Kita–Yaita Viaduct	114,424	114	375,407	71.10	Japan	High-speed rail
4	Tianjin Grand Bridge	113,700	114	373,000	70.64	China	High-speed rail
5	Cangde Grand Bridge	105,881	106	347,379	65.79	China	High-speed rail
6	Weinan Weihe Grand Bridge	79,732	80	261,588	49.54	China	High-speed rail
7	Bang Na Expressway	54,000	54	177,000	33.52	Thailand	Motor vehicles (Expressway)
8	Beijing Grand Bridge	48,153	48	157,982	29.92	China	High-speed rail
9	Metro Manila Skyway System	39,200	39	128,600	24.36	Philippines	Motor vehicles (Expressway)
10	Lake Pontchartrain Causeway	38,442	38	126,122	23.89	United States	High-speed rail
11	Line 1, Wuhan Metro Bridge	37,788	38	123,976	23.48	China	Metro (train)
12	Manchac Swamp Bridge	36,710	37	120,440	22.81	United States	Motor vehicles (Highway)

*Kilometers have been rounded to the nearest whole unit. Miles have been calculated based upon feet.

Types of bridges and the longest bridges in the world

Bridges take many forms. For example, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California is a suspension bridge whose deck hangs from vertical cables attached to two swooping horizontal cables held aloft by tower-like pylons. On the other hand, Australia’s Sydney Harbour Bridge is a through-arch bridge with a deck supported by an arched frame, and the current version of the London Bridge is a box girder bridge supported by horizontal beams of pre-stressed concrete. Additional bridge types include cable-stayed bridges, which resemble suspension bridges but use diagonal cables attached straight to the pylons; cantilever bridges, whose decks are anchored to trusses on each side but not in the center, and continuous truss bridges, which have supports for their full length. Additionally, many bridges blend these types (and more) into hybrid styles.

However, most of the longest bridges in the world (and all of the top 12) are viaducts, a type of bridge whose main deck is supported by a series of arches, much like a classic Roman aqueduct. Viaducts are most often used to maintain a consistent elevation across long stretches of uneven or otherwise volatile land. Viaducts prioritize efficiency over aesthetics and are rarely described as postcard-worthy in and of themselves—however, the scenery they traverse may still be beautiful.

Viaducts are particularly helpful in eastern and southern Asia, where 10 of the world’s top 12 longest bridges are located. High-speed rail transportation is vital to this region and performs best when given a straight and level pathway—which viaducts seamlessly facilitate across all types of terrain. Viaducts also conserve precious land and are resistant to flooding, which is common in the region’s many river valleys. China alone is home to seven of the top ten longest bridges in the world, most of which are intended specifically for high-speed rail.

The longest bridge in the world: Danyang Kunshan

The longest viaduct in the world, and in fact the longest bridge of any type, is the Danyang Kunshan bridge, which roughly follows the Yangtze River through the rice paddies, canals, rivers, and lakes of China’s Jiangsu province. At more than 102 miles long, Danyang Kunshan bridge is nearly three times as long as the US state of Rhode Island is wide.

World’s longest bridges of various types

If one were to leave viaducts off the list and focus upon bridges with the longest continuous spans—which is to say the longest unsupported stretch of bridge—the list of longest bridges changes considerably. More “traditional” bridge designs come to the fore, with suspension bridges emerging as the second-longest bridge type. With the notable exception of continuous truss bridges, China nearly always features the highest number of “top 10 longest” bridges of any given type.

Top 12 Longest Suspension Bridges in the World

Rank	Bridge	Length*				Location
Rank	Bridge	meters	km	feet	miles	Location
1	1915 Çanakkale Bridge	2,023	2.02	6,637	1.26	Turkey
2	Akashi Kaikyo Bridge	1,991	1.99	6,532	1.24	Japan
3	Yangsigang Yangtze River Bridge	1,700	1.70	5,577	1.06	China
4	Nansha Bridge (east span)	1,688	1.69	5,538	1.05	China
5	Xihoumen Bridge	1,650	1,65	5,413	1.03	China
6	Great Belt Bridge	1,624	1.62	5,328	1.01	Denmark
7	Osman Gazi Bridge	1,550	1.55	5,085	0.96	Turkey
8	Yi Sun-sin Bridge	1,545	1.55	5,069	0.96	South Korea
9	Runyang Bridge	1,490	1.49	4,889	0.93	China
10	Second Dongtinghu Bridge	1,480	1.48	4,856	0.93	China
11	Nanjing Fourth Yangtze Bridge	1,418	1.42	4,652	0.88	China
12	Humber Bridge	1,410	1.41	4,626	0.88	United Kingdom

*Kilometers have been rounded to the nearest whole unit. Miles have been calculated based upon feet.

The longest suspension bridge (and longest single span bridge) in the world as of 2023 is the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge, which opened in March 2022. The bridge’s main span stretches 2,023 meters (6,637 feet) across the Dardanelles Strait in northern Turkey. The bridge also serves as an example of the different methods of measuring bridges, as its total length counting its approach viaducts would be 4,608 meters (15,118 feet). At the time of its opening, the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge was also the second-tallest bridge in the world, with towers measured at 334 meters (1,096 feet) in height and a road deck 72.8 meters (239 feet) above the water.

The world’s second-longest single span belongs to Akashi Kaikyo bridge in Japan, which employs a 6,532 foot main span to connect the city of Kobe, Honshu to Iwaya, Awaji. The Akashi Kaikyo is also one of the tallest bridges in the world, standing 928 feet above the bustling Akashi Strait. More than 187 thousand miles of cable were used in the bridge’s suspension—enough to wrap around the Earth 7.5 times.

With a main span of 4,200 feet, San Francisco, California’s beloved Golden Gate bridge ranks as the world’s 19th-longest (though arguably best-known) suspension bridge. The Golden Gate is narrowly edged out as the longest single span in the United States by the Verrazzano-Narrows bridge (1,298 meters / 4,259 feet), which connects the boroughs of Staten Island and Brookln in New York City.

Top 12 Longest Cable-Stayed Bridges in the World:

Rank	Bridge	Length (main span)*				Location
Rank	Bridge	meters	km	feet	miles	Location
1	Russky Bridge	1,104	1.10	3,622	0.69	Russia
2	Hutong Yangtze River Bridge	1,092	1.09	3,582	0.68	China
3	Sutong Yangtze River Bridge	1,088	1.09	3,569	0.68	China
4	Stonecutters Bridge	1,018	1.02	3,339	0.63	Hong Kong
5	Qingshan Yangtze River Bridge	938	0.94	3,077	0.58	China
6	Edong Yangtze River Bridge	926	0.93	3,038	0.58	China
7	Jiayu Yangtze River Bridge	920	0.92	3,018	0.57	China
8	Tatara Bridge	890	0.89	2,919	0.55	Japan
9	Pont de Normandie	856	0.86	2,808	0.55	France
10	Chizhou Yangtze River Bridge	828	0.83	2,716	0.51	China
11	Shishou Yangtze River Bridge	820	0.82	2,690	0.51	China
12	Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge	818	0.82	2,684	0.51	China

Top 12 Longest Arch Bridges in the World:

Rank	Bridge	Length (main span)*				Location
Rank	Bridge	meters	km	feet	miles	Location
1	Pingnan Third Bridge	575	0.58	1,886	0.36	China
2	Chaotianmen Bridge	552	0.55	1,811	0.34	China
3	Lupu Bridge	550	0.55	1,804	0.34	China
4	Bosideng Bridge	530	0.53	1,739	0.33	China
5	New River Gorge Bridge	518	0.52	1,699	0.32	United States
6	Bayonne Bridge	510	0.51	1,673	0.32	United States
7	Zigui Yangtze River Bridge	508	0.51	1,667	0.32	China
8	Hejiang Yangtze River Bridge	507	0.51	1,663	0.31	China
9	Sydney Harbour Bridge	503	0.50	1,650	0.31	Australia
10	Wushan Bridge	460	0.46	1,509	0.29	China
11	Guantang Bridge	457	0.46	1,499	0.28	China
12	Mingzhou Bridge	450	0.45	1,476	0.28	China

Top 12 Longest Cantilever Bridges in the World:

Rank	Bridge	Length (main span)*				Location
Rank	Bridge	meters	km	feet	miles	Location
1	Pont de Québec	549	0.55	1,800	0.34	Canada
2	Forth Bridge	521	0.52	1,710	0.32	Scotland/UK
3	Minato Bridge	510	0.51	1,673	032	Japan
4	Commodore Barry Bridge	501	0.50	1,644	0.31	United States
5	Crescent City Connection	480	0.48	1,575	0.30	United States
6	Sanguantang Bridge	465	0.47	1,526	0.29	China
7	Howrah Bridge	457	0.46	1,500	0.28	India
8	Veterans Memorial Bridge	445	0.45	1,460	0.28	United States
9	Tokyo Gate Bridge	440	0.44	1,443	0.27	Japan
10	San Francisco Bay Bridge (east span - replaced 2016)	427	0.43	1,400	0.27	United States
11	JC Van Horne Bridge	380	0.38	1,247	0.24	Canada
12	Astoria-Megler Bridge	376	0.38	1,232	0.23	United States

Top 12 Longest Continuous Truss Bridges in the World:

Rank	Bridge	Length*				Location
Rank	Bridge	meters	km	feet	miles	Location
1	Ikitsuki Bridge	400	0.40	1,312	0.25	Japan
2	Astoria-Megler Bridge	376	0.38	1,232	0.23	United States
3	Francis Scott Key Bridge	366	0.37	1,200	0.22s	United States
4	Hart Bridge	331	0.33	1,088	0.21	United States
5	Oshima Bridge	325	0.33	1,066	0.20	Japan
6	Tenmon Bridge	300	0.30	984	0.19	Japan
7	Kuronoseto Bridge	300	0.30	984	0.19	Japan
8	Taylor-Southgate Bridge	259	0.26	850	0.16	United States
9	Julien Dubuque Bridge	258	0.26	845	0.16	United States
10	Braga Bridge	256	0.26	840	0.16	United States
11	Kamakari Bridge	255	0.26	837	0.16	Japan
12	Earle C. Clements Bridge	251	0.25	826	0.16	United States

*In all tables, miles have been manually calculated based upon given measurements in feet and both miles and kilometers have been rounded to the nearest decimal.