Chapter 9 Section 3 Various Arch Bridges

Arch bridges existed in our country very early, and they were built in the Han Dynasty at the latest.This kind of bridge was gradually evolved and developed from the outrigger wooden stone beam bridge and the brace bridge under the inspiration of the arch structure tomb construction technology at that time.Since the main load-bearing components of the arch bridge are curved, they are also called curved bridges.According to the "Shui Jing Zhu" records, in 282 A.D., there was a "traveler bridge" built of stones in the east of Luoyang, Henan Province.The most famous stone arch bridges preserved to this day include Anji Bridge in Zhaoxian County, Hebei Province, Lugou Bridge in the southwestern suburbs of Beijing, and Baodai Bridge in the south of Suzhou City.Anji Bridge, also known as Zhaozhou Bridge, was built in the Sui Dynasty more than 1300 years ago. It is an open-shouldered single-hole arc stone arch bridge, which is more than 1200 years earlier than similar arch bridges built in Europe in the 19th century.It occupies an important position in the history of bridges in the world.A special introduction will be given later in this book.The Baodai Bridge is six miles outside the Fengfeng Gate in the southeast of Suzhou, slightly later than the Zhaozhou Bridge. It is named after the construction of the bridge with funding. It is a porous ancient stone arch bridge that is well-known both at home and abroad.The total length of the bridge is nearly 317 meters, with 53 holes, 4.1 meters wide in the middle of the bridge, and 6.1 meters wide at both ends of the bridge. There are stone lions and stone towers.In order to allow higher ships to pass through, there are three large holes in the middle; the other holes are smaller, and the pier is also made narrow, about 60 cm thick.The maximum span of the Baodai Bridge is 6.95 meters, and the ratio of bridge span to pier width is 11.6:1, so that the drainage area under the bridge reaches 85%, ranking first among ancient arch bridges in the world, and it also shows the amazing wisdom of ancient Chinese craftsmen.Located on the Yongding River, the Lugou Bridge was built in the third year of Mingchang in the Jin Dynasty (AD 1192), 800 years ago.The Yongding River has always suffered from severe floods and is known as the "Wuding River".There is also the danger of drift ice in spring. Therefore, in the pier construction of the bridge, not only is it "rooted" firmly, it can withstand a huge thrust from one side, and the pier body is built into a pointed mouth in the direction of the water flow, which is convenient for flood discharge in summer and flow in spring. Ling, so far safe and sound, stands proudly.The Marco Polo Bridge is a double-arch stone bridge with a length of 212.2 meters. Adding the two ends of the bridge [tutu], the total length is 265 meters, the width is more than eight meters, and there are 11 bridge holes.This bridge not only has many outstanding achievements in engineering, but also has beautiful and vivid carvings on the bridge, such as Huabiao, bridge railings and stone lions, which are often praised by tourists from all over the world.The stone lions of Lugou Bridge are famous. As early as four or five hundred years ago, there was a folklore of "Stone Lions of Lugou Bridge-innumerable". In 1962, relevant personnel counted 485 stone lions in various poses.But later a stone lion was dug out from the river.Who knows if there are still in the river?The Italian Marco Polo was amazed when he saw the bridge, and he praised the Marco Polo Bridge as "the best and unique bridge in the world".

In addition, what needs to be mentioned is the Bianliang Hongqiao painted by Zhang Zeduan, a painter of the Northern Song Dynasty, in "A Picture of Riverside During the Qingming Festival".The bridge is located near Dongshuimen in the downtown area of ​​Bianliang (now Kaifeng), the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty.At that time, "Bridge City" was formed with the bridge as the center.The crowds on the bridge are bustling with cars and horses, all night long, very noisy.This bridge is a single-span wooden arch bridge, which is a representative work of wooden arch bridges of that period.It was built in the Northern Song Dynasty, with wooden beams [juju] connected to form an arch, without pillars, which is easy to erect and easy to navigate.The span of Hongqiao is nearly 25 meters, the arc height is five meters, and the bridge width is about eight meters.Its structure is a stable wooden arch structure formed by vertical and horizontal frames of wooden components.This is a new type of structure unique at that time, namely the "Hongliang structure".Its overall shape is light, like a rainbow flying over the river.This long-span wooden bridge building is a masterpiece in bridge architecture, and it is also very rare in the history of bridges in the world.

Arch bridges in ancient my country were unique and varied.From the shape point of view, there are steep arches with humps protruding, flat arches like a bright moon, flat fiber-path porous arch bridges with jade belts floating on water, and long arch bridges with long rainbows lying on waves and forming a natural longitudinal slope.There are open spandrels (such as adding a small arch to a large arch) and closed spandrels.There are many kinds of arches, such as semicircle, arc, ellipse, parabola, egg shape, horseshoe shape, pointed arch shape and polygon.There are porous and single holes in the number of holes, and the number of holes is mostly odd, and the even number is less.The Jingguo Bridge in Xuzhou has as many as 104 holes.There are two types of multi-span arch bridges: continuous arch and solid-end arch. The former is only found in Jiangnan water towns, while the latter is scattered in North China, Southwest China, Central China and East China.Arch bridges can be divided into stone arches, wooden arches, brick arches, bamboo arches and brick-stone mixed arches according to the building materials.