Main span of high bridge closed in SW China

Aerial photo taken on September 10 of the Beipan River expressway bridge.[Photo/Chinanews.com]

GUIYANG -- Work to connect the main part of a bridge, nearly 570 meters above a valley, was wrapped up on Saturday in Southwest China's Guizhou province.

With a height equivalent to a 200-storey building, the Beipanjiang bridge is the highest in the world by the vertical distance from the bridge deck down to the ground or water surface beneath the bridge span, said Wu Dahong, an official with Guizhou's transport department, citing public data on high bridges that have been completed across the globe.

The structure, spanning the Beipanjiang Valley, is part of a highway linking Hangzhou City in East China's Zhejiang province and Ruili City in Guizhou's neighboring Yunnan province.

The construction of the 1,341-meter-long cable-stayed suspension bridge started in 2013, costing about 1 billion yuan (about $150 million dollars).

Situated in rolling mountains and gorges, Guizhou is home to seven of the 10 highest bridges in China.