List of longest suspension bridge spans
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The world's longest suspension bridges are listed according to the length of their main span (i.e., the length of suspended roadway between the bridge's towers). The length of the main span is the most common method of comparing the sizes of suspension bridges, often correlating with the height of the towers and the engineering complexity involved in designing and constructing the bridge.[4] If one bridge has a longer span than another, it does not necessarily mean that the bridge is longer from shore to shore (or from abutment to abutment).
Suspension bridges have the longest spans of any type of bridge. Cable-stayed bridges, the next longest design, are practical for spans up to just over one kilometre (the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world has a 1,176 m span). Therefore, as of October 2025, the 28 longest bridges on this list are the 28 longest spans of all types of vehicular bridges.
The 1915 Çanakkale Bridge in Turkey holds the record since opening to traffic in March 2022, with a span of 2,023 metres (6,637 ft).[1][3] Since 1998, the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in Japan previously held the record with a span of 1,991 metres (6,532 feet), the Zhangjinggao Yangtze River Bridge in China will break the record in 2028 while the Strait of Messina Bridge in Italy will go to the top of the list in 2032.
Completed suspension bridges
This list includes only completed suspension bridges that carry automobiles or trains that are at least 1,000 m (3,300 ft) long. It does not include cable-stayed bridges, footbridges, or pipeline bridges.
| Green | Denotes bridge that contains or previously contained the longest span in the world |
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Bridges under construction
Most of the large suspension bridges built in recent years have been in the People's Republic of China. As the following list shows, most of the bridges under construction are also in China.
History of longest suspension spans
| Photo | Bridge | Location | Length m (ft) |
Years of longest span |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Hypothesized support | Maya Bridge at Yaxchilan |  Mexico | 62 m (203 ft) | 600–1430 | Hemp-rope simple suspension footbridge. Existence unproven. No longer standing.
Prior longest bridges are located in List of longest arch bridge spans. Exceeded by the masonry arch Trezzo sull'Adda Bridge from 1377 to 1416, with main span of 72 m. |
 | Chushul Chakzam |  ChinaTibet | 137 m (449 ft) | 1430–1820 | Chain suspension footbridge south of Lhasa, built by Thangtong Gyalpo. Reported by British spies to still be in use in 1878. Later (before 1904) fell into disuse after river course changed, swamping the northern end.[89] Dynamited by Chinese soldiers after the Battle of Chamdo in 1950.[90] |
 | Union Chain Bridge |  United KingdomScotland–England | 137 m (449 ft) | 1820–1826 | The oldest in the world still in use today. |
_a_godwyd_gan_Telford,_rhwng_Ynys_Mon_a_Gwynedd;_Mehefin_2023_12.jpg) | Menai Suspension Bridge | United Kingdom Wales | 176 m (577 ft) | 1826–1834 | |
 | Great Suspension Bridge |  SwitzerlandFribourg | 271 m (889 ft) | 1834–1849 | The bridge was replaced by the Zähringen Bridge in the 1920s. |
 | Wheeling Suspension Bridge |  United StatesWest Virginia | 308 m (1,010 ft) | 1849–1866 | The longest deck span from 1849 until 1866, and the oldest vehicular suspension bridge in use in the United States until 2019. |
 | Queenston-Lewiston Bridge | United States Canada | 317 m (1,040 ft) | 1851–1866 | The longest cable span from 1851 until it was destroyed by wind in 1864. However, the road deck span was only 258 meters long. |
 | John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge | United States Kentucky–Ohio | 322 m (1,056 ft) | 1866–1869 | |
 | Niagara Clifton Bridge | United States Canada | 384 m (1,260 ft) | 1869–1883 | Replaced in 1899. |
 | Brooklyn Bridge | United States New York City | 486 m (1,594 ft) | 1883–1903 | |
 | Williamsburg Bridge | United States New York City | 488 m (1,601 ft) | 1903–1924 | It was the longest suspension span but not the longest span of all bridges. The Forth Bridge, completed in 1890, a cantilever bridge with two spans of 521 m was longer until surpassed by the Quebec Bridge in 1917. |
 | Bear Mountain Bridge | United States New York | 497 m (1,631 ft) | 1924–1926 | It was the longest suspension span but not the longest span of all bridges. The Quebec Bridge completed in 1917, a cantilever bridge with a span of 549 m was longer until surpassed in 1929 by the Ambassador Bridge.
The first suspension bridge to have a concrete deck. The construction methods pioneered in building it would make possible several much larger projects to follow. |
 | Benjamin Franklin Bridge | United States Pennsylvania–New Jersey | 533 m (1,749 ft) | 1926–1929 | It was the longest suspension span but not the longest span of all bridges. |
 | Ambassador Bridge | United States Canada | 564 m (1,850 ft) | 1929–1931 | Since this bridge was built, the record for longest bridge span has only been held by suspension bridges. |
 | George Washington Bridge | United States New York – New Jersey | 1,067 m (3,501 ft) | 1931–1937 | The first span longer than 1 km. Nearly double the length of any previously built bridge at the time of its opening. |
.jpg) | Golden Gate Bridge | United States California | 1,280 m (4,200 ft) | 1937–1964 | Also the longest bridge span in the world from 1937 to 1964 |
 | Verrazzano–Narrows Bridge | United States New York City | 1,298 m (4,259 ft) | 1964–1981 | Also the longest bridge span in the world from 1964 to 1981 |
 | Humber Bridge | UK Yorkshire | 1,410 m (4,630 ft) | 1981–1998 | Also the longest bridge span in the world from 1981 to 1998 |
 | Akashi Kaikyo Bridge |  Japan | 1,991 m (6,532 ft) | 1998–2022 | Also the longest bridge span in the world from 1998 to 2022. The largest ever increase in length. |
 | Çanakkale 1915 Bridge |  Turkey | 2,023 m (6,637 ft) | 2022–Present | The longest bridge span in the world since 2022. The first span longer than 2 km. |
Diagram of longest suspension spans
| Bridge | Main span | Diagram |
|---|---|---|
| Zhangjinggao Yangtze River Bridge under construction | 2,300 m (7,550 ft)[61] |  |
| 1915 Çanakkale Bridge | 2,023 m (6,640 ft)[5] |  |
| Akashi Kaikyo Bridge | 1,991 m (6,530 ft)[6] |  |
| Nanjing Xianxin Yangtze River Bridge | 1,760 m (5,770 ft)[7] |  |
| Golden Gate Bridge | 1,280 m (4,200 ft)[28] |  |
Longest suspension footbridges
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Other record-holding suspension bridges
- Huajiang Canyon Bridge (China). Opened in 2025, it is the highest suspension bridge in the world at 625 m elevation.[19]
- San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge Eastern Span (California, United States). Opened in 2013, it is the widest bridge in the world (78.74 m [258.3 ft]), the most expensive bridge and the largest self-anchored suspension bridge ever constructed.[106][107][108]
- Tacoma Narrows Bridges (Washington, United States). Opened in 1950 and 2007, the pair of bridges with the longest spans in the world (853 m [2,799 ft]).
- Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge (Turkey). Opened in 2016, it has the longest span carrying both road and rail traffic (1,408 m [4,619 ft]).[22]
- Yangsigang Yangtze River Bridge (China). Opened in 2019 with the longest double deck span (1,700 m [5,600 ft]).[109]
- George Washington Bridge (New York and New Jersey, United States). Opened in 1931, it is the suspension bridge with the most lanes of traffic (at fourteen total on two levels).[110]
- Kurushima Kaikyō Bridge (Japan). Opened in 1999, it is the world's longest suspension bridge structure.
- Great Seto Bridge (Japan). Opened in 1978 and 1988, it is the longest two-tiered bridge system (but not all of the spans that make up the bridge system are suspension bridges).
See also
Notes
- The bridge is a cable-stayed suspension bridge, the suspension part is better at handling the load in the middle of the bridge, while the cable stayed bridge is better suited to handle the load closest to the tower.
- Taizhou Yangtze River Bridge and Ma'anshan Yangtze River Bridge have two consecutive main spans of 1,080 metres (3,540 ft) long each.
- The Chacao Channel bridge has two main spans, one of 1,155 metres (3,789 ft) and one of 1,055 metres (3,461 ft).
- The Guangrui Yangtze River Bridge has two consecutive main spans of 1,108 metres (3,635 ft).