Top 10 longest bridges in the world - you won't believe where Lagos 3rd mainland bridge is (pictures)

China has seven of the top 10 longest bridges in the world including four of the top 5, all built in the last six years as China continues its economic overhaul. So to make things a bit more interesting we have listed the top 10 Countries with the longest bridges and all the bridges in each of the countries. There are 32 bridges on the list, the last from Vietnam. There is only one bridge from Europe in the list, 23 from Asia, 2 from the Middle East and 6 from the US.

10. Vietnam

The Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC)-Trung Luong Expressway (also known by the old Saigon-Trung Luong Skyway name) runs south west from Ho Chi Minh City to My Tho on the northern edge of the Mekong Delta. It forms part of Vietnam’s North-South Expressway.

9. Portugal

The Vasco da Gama Bridge crosses the Tagus River just north of Lisbon, Portugal, forming an important part of Lisbon’s greater road network. It is the longest bridge in Europe and was opened in 1998.

The deepest foundation piles reach down 95 m (312 ft) below sea level, part of the engineering required to safeguard the bridge against earthquakes. (The biggest earthquake to hit Lisbon was estimated to be 8.7 on the Richter scale).

8. South Korea

The Incheon Bridge connects Incheon International Airport with Songdo, about 65 kms (40 miles) southwest of the South Korean capital, Seoul. Songdo is essentially a new city that has been built on reclaimed land on the Incheon waterfront.

Being in a seismically active area the bridge has been built to exacting standards. It was completed late in 2009 and is the world’s seventh longest cable-stayed bridge.

7. Taiwan

The lavishly named C215 Viaduct is one section of Taiwan’s high speed rail line that runs down the west coast of the country from Taipei to Kaohsiung. It is a box girder bridge completed in 2003.

6. Egypt

The 6th October Bridge is an elevated expressway and bridge that runs over the Nile, through the centre of Cairo and out to Cairo’s International Airport. The entire project took 27 years to complete although sections were in use during that time. It carries 500,000 people daily. The bridge was named after the date of the start of the Yom Kippur War with Israel in 1973.

5. Malaysia

The Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah Bridge, also known as the Penang Second Bridge, is a toll road that connects Batu Maung on Penang Island with the Penang mainland at Bandar Cassia.

Tuanku Abdul Halim is the 14th Malaysian Head of State.

4. Saudi Arabia & Bahrain

The King Fahd Causeway is a toll road that connects Saudi Arabia with Bahrain and was built in the 1980’s as a physical manifestation of the desire to improve the ties between the two kingdoms.

Also known as the Bahrain Bridge, the four lane road crosses the Gulf of Bahrain.

3. United States  Atchafalaya Basin Bridge: 29.3 kms (18.2 miles)

The US has the 6th and 7th longest bridges in the world and both of them are road bridges. They are also both in the southern state of Louisiana.

The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway was opened in 1969 and held the record for the longest bridge in the world until 2000 when the Bang Na Expressway took over top spot. The Causeway still holds the record for the longest ‘continuous’ bridge over water.

The Manchac Swamp Bridge takes the I55 over the… Manchac Swamp, running between Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas from LaPlace, west of New Orleans, north to Ponchatoula.

The US also has a number of bridges outside the top 10.

2. Thailand Bang Na Expressway: 55 kms (34.2 miles)

The Bang Na Expressway is the forth largest bridge in the world and retains the top spot for road bridges. Although it does technically cross a river, the Bang Pakong, most of the expressway runs over land and in some circles that detracts from its standing as a bridge. We think a bridge is a bridge.

It runs in an east-west direction taking traffic out of Bangkok to the east, ending in the Phan Thong District. It is tolled so make sure you have 70+ baht with you.

1. China

China has the top 3 longest bridges in the world, the first two of which are part of the same railway line between Beijing and Shanghai. The Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge runs south of the Yangtze River closer to Shanghai while the Tianjin Grand Bridge is at the other end of the 1,318 km (819 mile) railway, just south of Beijing.

The Weinan Weihe bridge was the longest bridge in the world when it opened in 2008. Like the top two it is part of an inter-city high speed rail line, this one running between Xi’an and Zhengzhou.

In addition to these three bridges, China has another four bridges in the top 10 and another ten bridges on our list.

Sadly, 3rd Mainland Bridge isn’t near top 20, but most likely going to be in top 30 based on kilometre coverage.