Information and pictures about the bridge
China’s bridges have generally gone through four stages of development. The first stage is mainly based on the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Spring and Autumn Period, including the previous historical eras. This is the founding period of the ancient bridge. At this time, in addition to the original single-plank bridge and Tingbu bridge, there were mainly two forms of bridges: beam bridge and pontoon bridge. At that time, due to the backward productivity level, most of them could only be built in areas where the terrain was flat, the river was not wide, and the water flow was gentle. The bridges could only be small wooden beam bridges, and technical problems were easier to solve. On rivers with wider water surfaces and faster currents, pontoons are often used.
The second stage is mainly from the Qin and Han Dynasties, including the Warring States and the Three Kingdoms, and is the period of creation and development of ancient bridges. The Qin and Han Dynasties were a dazzling development stage in the history of Chinese architecture. At this time, not only bricks, a man-made building material, were invented, but also arch structures with masonry structural systems as the theme were created, thus creating prerequisites for the emergence of arch bridges later. The emergence of iron tools during the Warring States Period also promoted the multi-faceted use of stone in construction, so that new components such as stone pillars, stone beams, and stone bridge decks were added to the bridge based on the original wooden beam bridge. Not only that, its great significance lies in the fact that the stone arch bridge came into being. The creation of the stone arch bridge played an epoch-making role in the history of ancient Chinese bridge construction in terms of practicality, economy, and aesthetics. The great development of stone beam and stone arch bridges not only reduces maintenance costs and extends the service life of the bridge, but also improves the scientific level of structural theory and construction technology. Therefore, the use of building stones and the emergence of arch technology in the Qin and Han Dynasties was actually a major revolution in the history of bridge construction. Therefore, judging from some literature and archaeological data, around the Eastern Han Dynasty, the four basic bridge types of beam bridge, pontoon bridge, cable bridge and arch bridge had all been formed.
The third stage is dominated by the Tang and Song Dynasties, including the Jin Dynasty, the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Sui Dynasty, and the Five Dynasties period. This was the heyday of the development of ancient bridges. The national power of the Sui and Tang Dynasties was stronger than that of the Qin and Han dynasties. The Tang and Song dynasties achieved stability and unity for a long time. Industry and commerce, transportation and science and technology were very developed, making it the most advanced country in the world at that time. After the Eastern Jin Dynasty, due to the migration of a large number of Han noble officials to the south, the economic center moved from the Yellow River Basin to the Yangtze River Basin, which led to great economic development in the southeastern water network area. The great economic and technological development in turn stimulated the great development of bridges. Therefore, many world-famous bridges were created at this time, such as the open-shoulder stone arch bridge-Zhaozhou Bridge pioneered by stonemason Li Chun in the Sui Dynasty, the stacked-beam wooden arch bridge-Hongqiao invented by Feizi in the Northern Song Dynasty, and the raft-shaped foundation created by Memorizing , the Wan'an Bridge in Quanzhou with oyster-planted piers, the Xiangzi Bridge in Chaozhou, Guangdong, which combines the stone beam bridge of the Southern Song Dynasty with a retractable floating bridge. These bridges enjoy a high reputation in the history of bridges in the world, especially the Zhaozhou Bridge. Similar bridges appeared seven centuries later in other countries in the world. Throughout the history of bridges in China, almost all major inventions and achievements, as well as bridges that can compete with the world's number one, were created at this time.
The fourth stage is the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. This is the saturated period of bridge development, with almost no major creations and technological breakthroughs. The main achievement at this time was the repair and transformation of some ancient bridges, and many construction instructions for bridge construction were left behind, providing a large amount of written materials for future generations. In addition, some arduous projects such as the Wannian Bridge in Nancheng, Jiangxi Province and the Panjiang Bridge in Guizhou during the Ming Dynasty were also completed. At the same time, many cable bridges have been built in the Sichuan and Yunnan regions, and cable bridge construction technology has also improved. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, that is, in 1881, with the opening of my country's first railway, another technological revolution in the history of my country's bridges ushered in.
The types of bridges, if divided by the main materials for building bridges, include wood, stone, brick, bamboo, rattan, iron, salt, ice bridge, etc.
Wooden bridges are the earliest form of bridges. Almost all bridges in my country before the Qin and Han Dynasties were wooden bridges. Such as the earliest single-plank bridges and wooden pillar-beam bridges. Floating bridges appeared around the Shang and Zhou dynasties, and column-arranged wooden beam bridges and outrigger-type wooden beam bridges appeared around the Warring States period. However, due to the characteristics of wood itself, such as pine, which is perishable and is subject to the strength and length of the material, it is not only difficult to build bridges on wide rivers, but also difficult to build strong and durable bridges. Therefore, the Northern and Southern Dynasties began to Replaced by mixed wood and stone or stone bridges.
Stone bridges and brick bridges. Generally speaking, it refers to a bridge whose deck structure is also made of stone or bricks. However, bridges made of pure bricks are very rare. They are usually constructed of a mixture of bricks, wood, or masonry, while stone bridges are more common.
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, stone pier and wooden beam span-type bridges appeared. In the Western Han Dynasty, they further developed into stone pillar-type stone beam bridges. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, single-span stone arch bridges appeared. In the Sui Dynasty, the world's first open-shoulder single-span bridge was created. Hole curved stone arch bridge, Li Zhaode built a boat-shaped pier porous stone beam bridge in the Tang Dynasty. The Song Dynasty was a period of vigorous development of large-scale stone bridges, creating stone beam bridges spanning several miles across the intersection of rivers and seas, such as Quanzhou's Luoyang Bridge and Ping'an Bridge, as well as large-scale stone bridges such as Beijing's Lugou Bridge and Suzhou's Baodai Bridge. arch bridge.
Bamboo bridge and rattan bridge. Mainly found in the south, especially in the southwest. Generally it is only used on narrow rivers or as temporary crossings. In the early days, it was mainly a kind of cable bridge. In the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the bamboo zipline bridge was called "Zuo Bridge". Later, bamboo cable bridges, bamboo pontoon bridges and bamboo plank bridges appeared. Iron bridges, in ancient times, included iron cable bridges and iron pillar bridges. The former belongs to the cable bridge type, which is more common, and appeared around the Tang Dynasty; the latter belongs to the beam bridge type, and is actually a hybrid bridge of wood and iron, which is very rare, with one example seen in Jiangxi.
Salt Bridge and Ice Bridge. Mainly found in special natural environments. The former is mainly found in the Qinghai Salt Lake area, and the latter is mainly found in the cold northern areas.
If divided by the structure and appearance of bridges, there are four basic types: beam bridges, pontoon bridges, cable bridges and arch bridges.
Beam bridge. Also known as flat bridge and empty span bridge, it is a bridge with piers as horizontal distance supports, and then the beams are erected and the bridge deck is flat. This is the most commonly used type of bridge, and it appeared earlier than other bridge types in history. It comes in the form of wood, stone or a mixture of wood and stone. In the pre-Qin Dynasty, beam bridges all used wooden pillars as piers. However, this wooden pillar and wooden beam structure showed its weaknesses very early and could not adapt to the development of the situation. Therefore, they were replaced by stone pillar and wooden beam bridges, such as the multi-span long bridges built in the Qin and Han Dynasties: Wei Bridge, Ba Bridge, etc. Around the time of the Han Dynasty, pile foundation technology was invented, and stone bridge piers appeared, indicating that bridges composed of wood and stone could span wider rivers and withstand the impact of raging floods. However, because the wooden beams on the stone piers were not resistant to wind and rain erosion, bridge houses were built on the bridge to protect the bridge body. This bridge type (covered bridge) was later more common in the south, but it was first seen in the Yellow River Basin. Small and medium-sized stone beams or stone slab bridges are convenient in structure, durable in materials, and labor-saving in maintenance. They are the most popular bridge shape among the people. Especially after the Southern Song Dynasty, they became very popular in Quanzhou, Fujian, and many long stone beams were created. bridge. If a beam bridge has no piers in the middle, it is called a single-span beam bridge; if there is a pier in the water so that the bridge body forms two holes, it is called a double-span beam bridge; if there are more than two piers, it is called a multi-span beam bridge.
Floating bridge. Also known as pontoon bridge, floating boat, or floating truss, it is also called "war bridge" because it is easy to erect and is often used for military purposes. Bridges on the water) are linked together on the water, and the boats are covered with planks for people and horses to pass. If a bridge in the strict sense is marked by a span and piers, then it is not a bridge in the full sense. Floating bridges are mainly built in places where the river surface is too wide, too deep, or where there are large fluctuations, making it difficult for ordinary wooden and stone column beam bridges to help. There are many pillars or iron cows, iron mountains, stone gates, stone lions, etc. on both sides of the pontoon to tie the cables. The Tianjin Bridge built on Luoshui River in Luoyang in the first year of Sui Dynasty was the first pontoon bridge to use iron chains to connect ships. Floating bridges are still commonly used in southern my country such as Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Guangxi and other places.
Rope bridge. Also known as suspension bridge, rope bridge, suspension bridge, etc., it is a bridge suspended with bamboo ropes, rattan ropes, iron ropes, etc. as the backbone. They are mostly built on steep banks and dangerous valleys where the water flow is fast and it is difficult to build bridge piers. They are mainly found in the southwest region. The method is to build a house on both sides of the bank, with a rope-tying column and a rope-twisting column in each house, and then use a number of thick ropes to tie them flat, and then lay wooden boards across the ropes, and some also add one or two ropes on both sides. as a handrail. It first appeared in the Qin and Han Dynasties. For example, Qin Libing built a Zuo Bridge in the southwest of Yizhou (now Chengdu), Sichuan, also known as "Yili Bridge", which was a bamboo cable bridge. Famous existing ones include the Luding Iron Cable Bridge and the Guanxian Bamboo Cable Bridge built in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Crossing the cable bridge feels very thrilling, just as the ancients described crossing the cable bridge: "A person is suspended in mid-air, crossing a ravine. If he doesn't stop for a moment, he will fall into a bottomless valley." Zhimeng, a monk in the Tang Dynasty, said: "If you can't see the bottom, you will be shadowed. "In fact, it is actually safe to cross the bridge, just as "Xu Xiake's Travels" commented on the Panjiang Bridge in Guizhou: "It seems to be floating when you look at it, but it is still standing when you practice it."
It appeared relatively late in the history of bridges in our country, but once the arch bridge structure was adopted, it developed rapidly and became the most vital bridge type among ancient bridges. Even today, it still has broad prospects for continued development.
Arch bridges can be divided into stone arches, brick arches and wooden arches. Among them, brick arch bridges are extremely rare and are only occasionally used in temples or gardens. The most common one is the stone arch bridge, which can be divided into single arch, double arch and multiple arch. The number of arches depends on the width of the river. Generally, the arch in the middle should be particularly tall, and the arches on both sides should be slightly smaller. According to the shape of the arch, it can be divided into five sides, semicircle, pointed arch, flat arch, etc. The bridge deck is usually paved with stone slabs and the bridge sides are made of stone railings. The image of the arch bridge was first seen on the portrait bricks of the Eastern Han Dynasty. It was produced by the development of the outrigger wood and stone beam bridge and was influenced by the shapes of tomb arches, water pipes, etc. Documentary records can be found in the "Shui Jing Zhu" of the Southern and Northern Dynasties. The earliest existing object and the most representative one is the Zhaozhou Bridge designed and built by Li Chun in the Sui Dynasty. For the issuance of certificates for stone arch bridges, after the Ming Dynasty, especially in the Qing Dynasty, it was popular to use whole coupons, that is, "barrel issuance".
In addition, other special shapes include flying pavilions and plank roads, channel bridges and towpath bridges, as well as curved bridges, fish pond flying beams and Fengshui bridges.
"Flying Pavilion", also known as Pavilion Road, Fudao, is an overpass. Cross passages between pavilions in ancient palaces. "Sanfu Huangtu": "On the west side of the palace (referring to the Central Palace in the late Han Dynasty), a flying pavilion was built across the city to build Zhang Palace, and a chariot road was built up and down." The palaces of the Qin and Han Dynasties were connected by pavilion roads, because there were Tao, so it is called Fu Tao. Qin Shihuang's Pavilion Road leads from Epang Palace to Lishan Mountain, with a pedestrian bridge and a vehicular bridge under it. It can be called the earliest overpass in China. "Plank Road", also known as Zhange, Qiaoge, is a single-arm wooden beam bridge. In steep areas of the mountainous areas, there are wooden roads.
"Channel Bridge" is both a water diversion channel and a bridge for pedestrians. That is to say, a ditch was built on the bridge to divert water. For example, the Huiyuan Bridge in Hongdong County, Shanxi was built in the Jin Dynasty. Therefore, there is still a slang term among Shanxi people: "bridge on water, water on bridge". "Towpath Bridge" is a long ribbon-shaped bridge parallel to the river built to facilitate fiber pulling. It is more common in canal areas in Zhejiang. Some are one to two kilometers or even five or six kilometers long. For example, there is a "hundred-hole Guantang" towpath bridge in Ruanshe, Shaoxing. It was built during the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty. The bridge is more than 380 meters long and has 115 spans. The bridge deck is made of three strips. It is made of stones, with a flat bottom connected to the water.
"Curved bridge" is a unique bridge style in gardens, so it is also called garden bridge. Bridges, paths, and corridors are all passages for visitors to enjoy the scenery in the garden. "Scenery is better than a curve." Therefore, bridges in gardens are often made with folded corners, such as the Jiuqu Bridge, to form a folded line that swings back and forth and looks left and right, thereby extending the scenery and enlarging the landscape. Curved bridges are generally composed of stone slabs and railings. The stone slabs are slightly higher than the water surface and the railings are low, making the bridge seem to be separated from the water surface and the space seems to be separated but not separated. It has a particularly implicit and endless meaning.