If you look at the list of the longest bridges in the world, you will notice that the top positions are dominated by Asian countries, especially China, which serves to testify the country’s rapid economic expansion. China produces and consumes about 60 percent of the world’s cement. To put that figure into perspective, here is a comparison — between 2011 and 2013, China used more cement (nearly 50% more) than the United States used in the entire 20th century.

In the last few years, China has been pushing the boundaries of bridge construction with many record breaking bridges that blow all competitors out of the water. The world’s longest bridge, for example, in China’s Jiangsu province, is a staggering 164 km in length. Out of the top ten positions, only two bridges lie outside Asia, in the United States, a country once known for its engineering and technological marvels. One of them is the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway that cuts straight across Lake Pontchartrain in southeastern Louisiana.

A satellite image of Lake Pontchartrain. The Causeway can clearly be seen bisecting the lake. Photo credit: NASA