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bridges

The 10 Most Expensive Bridges Ever Built: What the Costs Actually Compare

Bridge-cost rankings mix structures, entire crossing systems, original estimates and inflation-adjusted figures. Here is what the published HZMB and Øresund costs actually cover.

By Bettesworth Construction Team 4 min read
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There is no reliable, like-for-like ranking of the ten most expensive bridges ever built. Published figures often compare different things: a single bridge structure against an entire crossing system, original costs against inflation-adjusted costs, or approved estimates against final construction costs. The projects below are frequently cited among the costliest, but the available figures do not support placing all ten in a definitive order.

The clearest examples of why scope matters are Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao, whose reported system cost includes bridges, tunnel and artificial islands, and Øresund, for which the operator reports bridge and landworks costs separately.

Why there is no definitive top ten

A bridge-cost ranking only works if every entry uses the same accounting rules. A reported amount might cover the bridge alone, a complete road crossing, or a megaproject that also includes tunnels, artificial islands, approaches and landworks. Some figures are in the prices of the year construction took place; others have been adjusted for inflation. A budget estimate is also not automatically the same as a final project cost.

The available sources support identifying several projects commonly described as exceptionally costly, but they do not establish ten projects on a consistent basis. A secondary list published by Love Money in 2020 names several other high-cost bridges, but its estimates use mixed bases and do not create an authoritative global series: Love Money’s list. Its entries are useful as leads, not as verified, directly comparable ranks.

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Projects often cited among the costliest

These examples illustrate the range of figures and scopes behind claims about the world’s most expensive bridges. The order here is not a ranking.

Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge (HZMB)

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s 2021 case study reports a total construction cost of CNY 127 billion (US$18.8 billion) for the HZMB system. Its scope is broad: the 55-kilometre crossing includes bridges, causeways, an undersea tunnel and four artificial islands. The U.S. DOT’s figure therefore describes a crossing system, not a bridge deck alone: U.S. Department of Transportation case study.

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Hong Kong’s Transport and Housing Bureau reported a different figure for the HZMB Main Bridge: an approved estimate of about RMB 48.068 billion in December 2017, up from RMB 38.118 billion approved in March 2010. The Bureau attributed the increase to complicated open-sea construction conditions, difficult construction methods, higher labour and material costs, and refinements to design and construction schemes. This is a government-reported approved estimate for the Main Bridge, not the same scope or cost measure as the U.S. DOT’s total-system construction cost: Hong Kong government statement on the Main Bridge estimate.

The Hong Kong government describes the Main Bridge as a 22.9-kilometre bridge plus a 6.7-kilometre subsea tunnel. Link roads and boundary-crossing facilities are separate components under the responsibility of the three governments: Hong Kong government update on the HZMB.

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Øresund Bridge

The Øresund operator, Sund & Bælt, reports the bridge’s construction cost as DKK 14.8 billion in 1990 prices, equivalent to approximately DKK 29.1 billion in 2025 prices. It lists Øresund Landanlæg, the landworks, separately at DKK 5.4 billion in 1991 prices. The bridge and landworks figures have different scopes and price years; adding or comparing them without preserving those distinctions would be misleading: Sund & Bælt’s construction-cost figures.

Other bridges named in published cost lists

Love Money’s 2020 list also names Great Seto, Danyang–Kunshan, the Bay Bridge East Span replacement, Great Belt, Akashi Kaikyo, Evergreen Point, Kerch and New Champlain. The source provides estimates, but the gathered evidence does not establish a consistent official cost basis for those projects alongside the HZMB and Øresund figures. Do not read the list’s order as a verified global ranking or treat its amounts as directly comparable.

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How to compare bridge costs fairly

Before deciding which project cost more, check what the number actually measures. These distinctions can change the apparent order of a list:

  • Project scope: Is the amount for the bridge structure, or does it include tunnels, causeways, artificial islands, approaches, landworks and boundary facilities?
  • Price year: Is the figure in the prices of the construction period, or has it been adjusted for inflation? If adjusted, which year and method are used?
  • Currency: Is the amount reported in the project’s original currency or converted? A converted value needs a stated exchange-rate date to be meaningfully compared.
  • Cost status: Is it an initial estimate, an approved budget, a revised estimate or a final construction cost?
  • Type of project: Is a road bridge being compared with a railway viaduct or a multi-part crossing system?

For example, comparing the HZMB’s CNY 127 billion system-wide construction cost with Øresund’s DKK 14.8 billion bridge cost in 1990 prices would mix currencies, price years and scopes. Converting the amounts alone would not make that comparison fair.

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What can be concluded from the available figures

The HZMB and Øresund show why a single “most expensive bridge” label needs a clear definition. The HZMB’s reported total covers a large crossing system, while Hong Kong’s separate Main Bridge estimate has a narrower scope. Øresund’s operator distinguishes the bridge from landworks and gives both a construction-era and a 2025-price figure. Those published numbers are informative when their scope and price basis stay attached; they do not, by themselves, establish a definitive top ten.

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