Lake Pontchartrain Causeway - Longest Bridge Controversy July 2011

Longest Bridge Controversy July 2011

For decades Lake Pontchartrain Causeway was listed by Guinness World Records as the longest bridge over water in the world. In July 2011 the Jiaozhou Bay Bridge in China was named by Guinness as the 'longest bridge over water'. At that time there was some controversy in the USA as the former holder of the record, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, disagreed with Guinness and still called itself the longest. It made this claim by ruling on the title according to its own definition — that is, how much of a bridge is physically over water, saying that the Jiaozhou Bay Bridge spans water for 25.9 kilometres (16.1 mi) while Lake Pontchartrain Causeway spans 38.28 kilometres (23.79 mi). Shandon Hi-Speed group, the company that built the Jiaozhou Bay Bridge, says its sea crossing length is actually 25.171 kilometres (15.641 mi). Nevertheless, Guinness World Records stated that the Jiaozhou Bay Bridge is 42.5 kilometres (26.4 mi) long by including other aggregate structures such as land bridges on the ends, and an under-sea tunnel in another part of the city that was part of the same Jiaozhou Bay Connection Project.

In July 2011, Guinness created two categories for bridges over water: continuous and aggregate lengths over water. Lake Pontchartrain Causeway then became the longest bridge over water (continuous) while Jiaozhou Bay Bridge became the longest bridge over water (aggregate).