Baluarte Bridge saddles in the pylons to form 152 suspenders in a two plane semi-fan layout. The tallest intermediate pier, P9, is high. It crosses a gorge in the Sierra Madre Occidental mountains with a clearance of below the deck, substantially taller than the Eiffel Tower. Its clearance is higher than that of the previous record-holder, France's Millau Viaduct, which has a clearance of . The bridge's central span, long, is also the longest cable-stayed span in North America, longer than that of the John James Audubon Bridge in St. Francisville, Louisiana. Construction on the bridge began on 21 February 2008. The
Orthotropic deck superstructure allowed bridge launching from both ends of the Millau Viaduct. The Akashi Kaikyō Bridge's orthotropic deck allowed the Japanese to build the longest span at about , or 50% longer than the Golden Gate Bridge. Orthotropic decks permit a very shallow deck depth which reduces the steepness of approach gradients and hence their costs. The form is also widely used on bascule and other moveable bridges where significant savings in the cost of the mechanical elements can be made where a lighter deck is used. The El Ferdan Railway Bridge across the Suez Canal of Egypt is the record