Penang Bridge by day, view from the sea. Though Penang is outside the Ring of Fire , free from earthquakes, the bridge is built to withstand an earthquake up till a magnitude of 7.9 on the Richter Scale.

Penang Bridge by night

The Penang Bridge was built in 1982 completed in 1985. At present it is the 6th longest bridge in the world. Bridge Design Name : Cable Stay Concrete Girder. It cost the Government 229USD million (excluding the cost of land acquisition). With 3 interchanges, the 13.5 km Penang Bridge of which 8.4 km is above water was officially open to public on 14 September 1985. It has 533 spans of which 192 spans for the Bridge is above water.

At the middle span of the bridge,the height of tower above water is 101.5m and bridge over water is 33m. Over 50,000 vehicles use this bridge every day.

Constructed with a 6.2 km dual carriageway and 2.2 km three lanes at the Main span, it has since been upgraded to a 3 lane highway. This Bridge is the only physical link between the Mainland of Peninsular Malaysia and Penang Island. Seen from the Penang Island interchange, the channel crossing consists of elevated bridge structures known as "Cable Stayed Concrete Girders". In 1986, it won the Grand Award in the United States of America for Engineering Excellence Competition sponsored by the Council of Consulting Engineers, Washington. In 1993, it won the FIABCI Special Award (Development and Construction Phase Category) from the International Real Estate Federation of Malaysia.