The Chakzam Bridge was a suspension bridge

Suspension bridge

A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. Outside Tibet and Bhutan, where the first examples of this type of bridge were built in the 15th century, this type of bridge dates from the early 19th century...

 that spanned the Yarlung Tsangpo

Yarlung Zangbo River

Yarlung River is a watercourse that originates upstream from the South Tibet Valley and Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon, in Tibet. It then passes through the state of Arunachal Pradesh, India, where it is known as the Dihang....

 river near Lhasa

Lhasa

Lhasa is the administrative capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China and the second most populous city on the Tibetan Plateau, after Xining. At an altitude of , Lhasa is one of the highest cities in the world...

 in Tibet

Tibet

Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...

. When it was built at Jagsamka

Jagsamka

Jagsamka also Chaktsam, Chagsam and Jagsam, , is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.-See also:* Chakzam Bridge*List of towns and villages in Tibet...

, in 1430 by Thang Tong Gyalpo

Thang Tong Gyalpo

Thangtong Gyalpo also known as Drubthob Chakzampa and Tsundru Zangpo was a great Buddhist adept, a yogi, physician, blacksmith, architect, and a pioneering civil engineer....

(1385-1464), its main section was the longest unsupported span in the world, with a central span estimated at around 137 metres (150 yards). At the time it was built there were no suspension bridges anywhere else in the world.