The world's highest bridge has officially opened to traffic in China, state media said, slashing travel time across a deep canyon from two hours to two minutes.
The Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge soars 625m above a river and gorge in the southern province of Guizhou – close to double the height of Auckland's Sky Tower.
It takes the title of world's highest bridge from the neighbouring 565m Beipanjiang Bridge.
The bridge stretches 2890m in length over the Beipan River and has a main span of 1420m.
Drone footage broadcast by state media showed vehicles crossing the huge structure, which took three years to construct.
Massive crowds gathered to mark the opening, including project engineers and local officials.
Stunning drone shots as world's tallest bridge opens to traffic - Watch on TVNZ+
"The opening of the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge reduces travel time between the two sides from two hours to two minutes," head of the provincial transport department Zhang Yin said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Nearly half of the world's highest 100 bridges were located in the hilly province, state news agency Xinhua said.
Earlier this year in August, a testing team drove 96 trucks onto designated points to test the bridge's structural integrity.
The bridge has now set the record for both the world's highest bridge and largest span bridge built in a mountainous area.
The world's tallest bridge, measured in terms of the height of its own structure, remained France's 343m tall Millau Viaduct.
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