China is set to open the world's tallest bridge named Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge in southwestern Guizhou later this September.
The bridge spans 9,481 feet and rises 2,050 feet above the ground; the infrastructural marvel can fit two Eiffel towers beneath it.
According to Xinhua News Agency, the Huajiang Grand Canyon has been under construction since 2022 and took almost three years to complete. It underwent and passed a five-day payload test in August and is expected to open for traffic soon.
This marks the latest infrastructural feat for China, known for building enormous projects to boost the economy and showcase engineering capacity.
The People’s Daily declared the bridge to be “China’s Miracle” showcasing the Guizhou “speed” and “ambition”.
The Grand Canyon is expected to cut the travel time between Guanling and Zhenfang from two hours to just two minutes, benefitting the 600,000 residents of the region.
It is also expected to become a tourist attraction as China plans to install a 700-foot-tall observation lift that will take visitors to a viewing tower overlooking the canyon.
A civil engineering professor at Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu, Li Mingshui, said that this is an attempt by the government to work on the weakest links in the western China’s poorer regions.
He added, “Strengthening transportation infrastructure is a key pillar in China’s regional development strategy.”
