Lancang River Railway Bridge

The Lancang River Railway Bridge is an arch bridge under construction od Dali-Ruili Railway near city of Baoshan in western Yunnan Province, China. Once completed, the bridge will be one of the highest in world, sitting 271 m above the Lancang River. The bridge's main span will be 342 m making it also one of the longest arch bridges ever built. The bridge is expected to be completed in 2022.

Design
Instead of using cable stays and tiebacks to build the arch, the two steel truss arch halves were built vertically on either side of the canyon slopes on top of scaffolding. While still in a vertical position, the two halves were then lowered over the gorge where they were connected at the crown. The total length of the bridge is 698 meters.

Site
The site showcases three high spans including an older suspension bridge, the new railway bridge and a high pipeline suspension bridge that is the third-highest of its type in the world after the Hegigio Gorge Pipeline Bridge in Papua New Guinea and the Niouc Bridge in Switzerland.

The official height of the bridge is 271 meters, measured to the river's original surface. The construction of the Xiaowan Dam downstream created a reservoir that extends back under the bridge and raised the water level some 50 meters.