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In any metric, this doesn't seem to qualify as the longest bridge in the world. I could be miscalculating, but a number of articles are using the title 'longest'. The articles below are highlights popping up today.

It states it is going to be the longest bridge, but I understand that by viaducts and clearances, it doesn't appear to check any boxes for 'longest bridge.'

Example: "World's Longest Bridge Nears Completion," "The Longest Bridge in the World.." et al.

Mikey
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  • what do you mean with *by viaducts and clearances*? –  Jan 17 '19 at 08:20
  • @JanDoggen - There are bridges that are viaducts (over land or with multiple braced pylons) and others that are over water or land with clearance. When measuring "longest" some people include viaducts, and others include actual span without pylons. Some, too, ignore or include breaks in the bridge distance. By all descriptions, I can't find how this will be the "longest" bridge, even though it is described as such. – Mikey Jan 17 '19 at 13:48
  • So, do you mean to say: *(even) including viaducts and clearances*? –  Jan 17 '19 at 13:56
  • @JanDoggen - I'm not sure; what I mean to say is that by viaducts and clearances (or anything, if you have ideas please edit), it simply doesn't appear to be the future longest bridge in the world in any way. – Mikey Jan 17 '19 at 15:36
  • Just FYI, your second link says in the first sentence that it will be the longest bridge _over water_ in the world. The title is clickbait, but the article isn't claiming it's the longest overall. – TheWanderer Jan 19 '19 at 16:35

1 Answers1

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It depends on exactly what the claim is, but it's certainly not the "longest bridge in the world".

Wikipedia's list of longest bridges, lists Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge as the Guinness Records holder with total length of 164km.

Guinness' Longest Road Bridge is Bang Na Expressway with length of 54km.

The Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway is "only" 48km long, but it's largely over water, so it might qualify as the longest bridge over water depending on how it's measured.

The current longest aggregate bridge over water is Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge with total length of 48.3km, which is very close to what the Shaikh Jaber bridge is reported to be.

If the Sheikh is a continuous bridge, it will probably beat the current longest continuous bridge over water, Lake Pontchartrain Causeway (38km).

It's possible that the news reports are incorrectly referring to it as the "longest bridge" when they really mean it will be the longest continuous bridge over water.

ventsyv
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