This list of the largest suspension bridges ranks the world's suspension bridges by the length of main span (distance between the suspension towers). The length of the main span is the most common way to rank suspension bridges. If one bridge has a longer span than another it does not mean that the bridge is the longer from shore to shore or from anchorage to anchorage. However, the size of the main span does often correlate with the height of the towers and the engineering complexity involved in designing and constructing the bridge.
Suspension bridges have the longest spans of any type of bridge. Cable-stayed bridges, the next longest are practical for spans up to around 900 meters. So the top 23 bridges on this list are also the longest 23 spans of all types of vehicular bridges. The Tatara Bridge has the largest span of any cable-stayed bridge at 890 meters. It was originally planned as a suspension bridge, but the design was changed to a cable-stayed bridge for environmental reasons.
This list only includes bridges that carry automobiles or trains. It does not include cable-stayed bridges, footbridges or pipeline bridges. Note: Click on each bridge's rank to go to the bridge's official web-site. Ranks with a red asterisk (*) do not have official web-sites, or do not have English language versions and are linked instead to a reference entry.
* The reconstructed eastern section of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge will be the largest self-anchored suspension bridge ever constructed. With a single tower, it will have two asymetrical spans of 180 and 385 meters. Construction is scheduled to be completed in 2012 * The Strait of Messina Bridge, with a center span of 3,300 m, is planned to connect Italy and Sicily but construction has not yet begun. * The İzmit Bay Bridge crossing the Marmara Sea in Turkey with a span of 1,668 m. * Two large suspension bridges are planned in China The Xihoumen Bridge, with a span of 1,650 is planned for the Zhoushan Archipelago, and the Qiongzhou Bridge (2,000 m to 2,500 m). * The Hardanger Bridge, with a total length of 1,380 m, is to be constructed across the fjord Hardangerfjorden in Norway. Construction is estimated to be completed in 2011. [107] * The Chacao Channel bridge connecting the island of Chiloé with mainland Chile. This unusual design has two mainspans of 1,055 m and 1,100 m without an anchorage between them. Construction begins in 2007. Opens in 2012. * A second span is being constructed of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. The new span, which will run parallel to the current bridge, is scheduled to be completed in 2007.Bridges have also been suggested for the Strait of Gibraltar and the Sunda Strait with longest spans of several kilometres. The suspension cables for these longest bridges are suspended from the ends of cable-stayed struts extending diagonally from tall pylons.
Note: Some of the information posted on the following sites may be different from the information posted above. As of February 21, 2006, the sites were out of date or inaccurate as noted in parenthesis * Denenberg, David, Bridgemeister.com (an extensive inventory of roughly 2,000 suspension bridges) * Janberg, Nicolas, Suspension bridges, Structurae.de (an extensive database of structures including many suspension bridges) * Durkee, Jackson, "World's Longest Bridge Spans", National Steel Bridge Alliance, May 24, 1999 (out of date) * The World's Greatest Bridges, The Bridge over the Strait of Messina (out of date and other errors) * List of longest spans, Pub Quiz Help (includes bridges that have not yet been completed) * Steel bridges in the world, and other bridge statistics, The Swedish Institute of Steel Construction, March, 2003 (out of date) * Virola, Eur Ing Juhani, Two Millennia - Two Long-Span Suspension Bridges, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, ATSE Focus No 124, November/December 2002 (revised information up to date as of 2005)
