The two ends of the Beipanjiang Bridge in Guizhou Province were linked on Sept. 10, setting the stage for the opening of the world's highest bridge by the end of this year.

The Beipanjiang Bridge spanning the Beipanjiang Valley rises 565 meters above a river and is located amid precipitous mountains and dangerous gorges in Guizhou in southwestern China.

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As tall as a 200-storey building, the suspension bridge is the highest in the world measured by the vertical distance from the bridge deck down to the water surface beneath the bridge span. It's 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 began in 2013 at a cost of $150 million. The bridge should be opened to traffic at the end of this year.

It will cut travel time from Liupanshui in Guizhou to Xuanwei in next door Yunnan province from around five hours to less than two, said state-run China Central Television.

As the highest bridge in the world, the Beipanjiang Bridge overtook the Si Du River Bridge in Hubei province for that honor.

The Sidu River Bridge is a 1,222 meter-long suspension bridge crossing the valley of the Sidu River near Yesanguan in Badong County, Hubei Province. It opened in November 2009.

Several of the world's highest bridges are in China and Guizhou is home to seven of the 10 highest bridges in China.

France's Millau Viaduct at 343 meters tall remains the world's tallest bridge measured in terms of the height of its own structure, rather than the distance to the ground.

The Millau Viaduct is a cable-stayed bridge that spans the valley of the River Tarn near Millau in southern France. It was inaugurated in December 2004.

TagsBeipanjiang Bridge, Guizhou Province, world's highest bridge, Beipanjiang Valley, Sidu River Bridge, Millau Viaduct