EngineeringLength
Longest suspension bridge span
2,023 m
6,637 ft
- Record holder
- 1915 Çanakkale Bridge
✓ Value cross-checked in a second source
How the record evolved
The last record set in each decade, up to the current record (highlighted).
| Year | Record | Holder |
|---|---|---|
| current | 2,023 m | 1915 Çanakkale Bridge |
| 1,991 m | Akashi Kaikyo Bridge | |
| 1,410 m | Humber Bridge | |
| 1,298 m | Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge | |
| 1,280 m | Golden Gate Bridge | |
| 564 m | Ambassador Bridge | |
| 488 m | Williamsburg Bridge | |
| 486 m | Brooklyn Bridge | |
| 384 m | Niagara Clifton Bridge | |
| 317 m | Queenston-Lewiston Bridge | |
| 308 m | Wheeling Suspension Bridge | |
| 271 m | Great Suspension Bridge | |
| 176 m | Menai Suspension Bridge |
Put them in order
Sort these records from the oldest to the most recent.
- 176 mMenai Suspension Bridge
- 384 mNiagara Clifton Bridge
- 2,023 m1915 Çanakkale Bridge
- 1,280 mGolden Gate Bridge
What to remember
Suspension bridges are compared by their main span, the length of roadway hanging between the two towers. On that measure, the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge in Turkey reaches 2,023 m. Opened on 18 March 2022 near Lapseki and Gelibolu, it beat Japan's Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, from 1998, by 32 m. Its total length is 4,608 m.
In 1826, the record stood at 176 m, with the Menai Suspension Bridge. It later passed to the Brooklyn Bridge at 486 m in 1883, the Golden Gate Bridge at 1,280 m in 1937 and the Humber Bridge at 1,410 m in 1981. From the Menai bridge to the Turkish bridge, the span grew by a ratio of 11.49.
The bridge crosses the Dardanelles about ten kilometres west of the Sea of Marmara, after roughly five years of construction. It is the centrepiece of the planned 321 km O-6 motorway, meant to connect East Thrace with Anatolia. Suspension bridges have the longest spans of any bridge type; cable-stayed bridges, the next longest design, are practical up to just over one kilometre, with a longest span of 1,176 m.
Related records
Sources and licences
- Value, holder and date: Wikipedia article “List of longest suspension bridge spans” (revision used 1379312012). Data from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Photo: Glabb, Photo licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons).
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