Jiaozhou Bay
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 World Records" as the 'longest bridge over water'. At that time there was some controversy in the United States as supporters of the former holder of the record, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, disagreed with "Guinness World Records" not calling the causeway the longest. Supporters made this claim based on its own definition i.e., the length of a bridge physically over water and concluded that the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway spans , and was therefore the longest. The Jiaozhou Bay Bridge spans water for only . However, "Guinness World Records", using the criteria of measurement that included aggregate structures, such as land bridges on the ends and an under-sea tunnel, stated that the Jiaozhou Bay Bridge is long. Following this controversy in July 2011, "Guinness World Records" 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)".