The Chinese culture of the bridge in China started in the Sui Dynasty, with its popularity peaking in the Song Dynasty. Many ancient  Chinese bridges are pioneering works in the world’s bridge construction industry. More than a million stone arch bridges were constructed throughout China’s history, and the long-lasting characteristics of them are astonishing.

Here are the four most important bridges you need to know about.

1. Zhaozhou Bridge (Single-arch stone bridge)
1412 years old

Zhaozhou Bridge
Zhaozhou Bridge is also called Anji Bridge and is the world’s first and best-preserved open-spandrel stone arch bridge. The bridge was designed by Lichun and is famous for its innovative construction. The bridge has one large arch and two small arches on each side of the spandrel of the large arch. The small arches are crucial with many functions, such as saving materials, reducing the weight of the bridge, lessening the impact of floods and of course the artistic value they bring. In addition to that, the large arch consists of 28 arch rings with each of the rings having the capability of supporting the bride independently. The large arch has a length of 37.04 metres. Zhaozhou Bridge was named as an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers and is regarded as one of the four famous bridges in ancient China.

2. Luoyang Bridge (Sea-crossing stone bridge)
952 years old

Luoyang Bridge
Luoyang Bridge was previously called Wan An Bridge and was built from 1053-1059 in Quanzhou, Fujian province. With a length of 834 metres and width of 7 metres, Luoyang Bridge is the earliest stone bridge that crosses the sea and is regarded as one of the four famous bridges in ancient China. The building of the raft foundations was a significant innovation in world bridge building. Moreover, people bred oysters on the bridge foot-stone which strengthened the bridge foundations due to oyster gelatin, which made Luoyang Bridge the world’s first bridge that applied biology to its construction.

Initially, the bridge was 1,200 metres long and 5 metres wide with 46 piers. There were 500 bridge railings on two sides and 28 stone lions. Moreover, there were 7 stone pavilions and 9 stone towers, while currently there is only one pavilion and three towers left. Among ancient Chinese bridges, the project of Luoyang Bridge was one of the largest, which was also a reason for it to rank on the list of the four famous bridges in ancient China

3. Lugou Bridge (10-piered, multi-arched stone bridge)
819 years old

Lugou Bridge
The Lugou Bridge, also known as Marco Polo Bridge, because it was highly praised by Marco Polo on his trip to China, is the only ancient bridge in the world that can sustain a 400 ton load. It is located in Beijing and was constructed more than 800 years ago. It is famous for the countless lion sculptures that sit on the pillars along the sides of the bridge.

The bridge is also where the Marco Polo Incident occurred in 1937. The fighting during the Marco Polo Incident led to the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). The Lugou Bridge is also known for holding the 400 ton flatbed truck that drove across it in 1975.

Why is the load-bearing capability of the Lugou Bridge so high? Construction on the Lugou Bridge began in 1,189 A.D. during the Jin Dynasty. Construction was completed in 1,192. The bridge is made of solid granite and is supported on 10 piers. It is 874 feet long and 30.5 feet wide, and was built to resist the flooding and the strong currents of the Yongding River, thereby securing safe passage to Beijing.

4. Luding Bridge (Iron-chain suspension bridge)
305 years old

Luding Bridge
The Luding Bridge is built over the Dadu River in Luding County, Sichuan Province. It is the oldest chain suspension bridge in China, and a milestone in architecture.

Construction was completed in 1,706 during the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty. It was built 96 years ahead of the first chain suspension bridge in North America, and 36 years ahead of the first one in Europe.

The bridge is 405 feet long, 10 feet wide and is suspended 33 feet above the river. It is supported by 13 thick iron chains-9 of which cross under the bottom to bear the load, and the other 4 deployed along the two sides as handrails to safeguard travel. The iron chains of Luding Bridge are, on average, 420 feet long, each weighing one-and-a-half to two tons.

 

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