World’s highest bridge nears completion in China

These pictures (above and below) taken on September 10, 2016 shows the Beipanjiang Bridge, near Bijie in southwest China's Guizhou province. Chinese engineers linked the two ends of the bridge on September 10, completing the structure of what is expected to become the world's highest bridge. The bridge soars 565 meters (1,854 feet) above a river in the mountainous region. ALL PHOTOS: STR/AFP

BEIJING - Chinese engineers have completed the structure of what is expected to become the world's highest bridge, local authorities said.

The Beipanjiang Bridge, in mountainous southwestern China, soars 565 meters (1,854 feet) above a river, the Guizhou provincial transport department said in a statement.

As such it overtakes the Si Du River Bridge in the central province of Hubei to become the world's highest bridge, said the statement posted on Sunday.

The two ends of the bridge were linked on Saturday, it added.

The 1,341-meter span is expected to open to traffic at the end of this year and will cut road trips from Liupanshui in Guizhou to Xuanwei in neighboring Yunnan province from around five hours to less than two, state broadcaster China Central Television reported Monday.

Several of the world's highest bridges are in China—including the world's longest, highest glass-bottomed bridge—although the world's tallest bridge measured in terms of the height of its own structure, rather than the distance to the ground, remains France's Millau viaduct at 343 meters tall. — Agence France-Presse