Welcome to the Roadscapes Wednesday segment! Each week here on Geek Alabama, Roadscapes Wednesday will feature roads and infrastructure related topics. Geek Alabama Editor / Publisher Nathan Young is often called the “road geek” for a good reason, Nathan loves roads and loves talking about roads!
In 1929, workers finished a footbridge 955 feet above the Arkansas River in about seven months, for $350,000. The Royal Gorge Bridge became the highest bridge in the world and held that title for 72 years. Then, in 2001, China took the record, and it has kept it ever since.
Today, the record belongs to the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge in Guizhou province. It opened in September 2025 with its road deck about 2,050 feet above the river, more than double the height of the highest road bridge in the United States.
So what happened? Did America forget how to build high, or did it just stop needing to?
In this video, we look at the geography, history, and economics behind the world’s highest bridges. We cover how a province with no plains became home to 49 of the world’s 100 highest bridges, and why that building boom came with a heavy price in debt. We also look at when America built high, from the Royal Gorge to the New River Gorge to the bridge near Hoover Dam, and why the country that built the Interstate system has no 2,000-foot bridge today.
To answer that, we need to start with the land under the road.
Categories: Roadscapes Stuff
