TEHRAN – The first suspension bridge in Dalahu county, western Kermanshah province, is being constructed and will come on stream over the course of one year, a provincial tourism official has said.

The bridge is being constructed over Piran waterfall and Ezhdeha (Dragon) Valley and is expected to become a great competitor for Meshginshahr suspension bridge in Ardebil province due to the tourism potentials of the region in terms of suitable climate and beautiful landscape, Asghar Rashno announced on Tuesday.

Inaugurated in 2015, and with 345 meters long, 3 meters wide, and 80 meters high, Meshginshahr suspension bridge is said to be the largest of its kind in West Asia.

A budget of 235 billion rials (about $5.6 million at the official rate of 42,000 rials) has been allocated to the project, which aims at boosting tourism in the region, the official added.

He also noted that the project has generated about 1,000 job opportunities directly and indirectly.

Kermanshah embraces a variety of awe-inspiring historical sites with Bisotun and Taq-e Bostan amongst the most famous. The UNESCO-registered Bisotun is a patchwork of immense yet impressive life-size carvings depicting the king Darius I and several other figures, bearing outstanding testimony to the important interchange of human values on the development of monumental art and writing. Inscribed into the base of a towering cliff, Taq-e Bostan comprises extraordinary Sassanian bas-reliefs of ancient victorious kings divide opinions.

ABU/MG