Anping Bridge
Encyclopedia
Beam bridge
Beam bridges are the most simple of structural forms being supported by an abutment at each end of the deck. No moments are transferred through the support hence their structural type is known as simply supported....
in China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
's Fujian
Fujian
' , formerly romanised as Fukien or Huguing or Foukien, is a province on the southeast coast of mainland China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...
province. It is 2070 metres (1.3 mi) long. The bridge is also known as the Wuli Bridge because its length is about 5 li, where a li is about 500 meters or 0.3 miles. It is a nationally protected historic site registered with the State Administration of Cultural Heritage
State Administration of Cultural Heritage
State Administration of Cultural Heritage is an administrative agency subordinate to the Ministry of Culture. It is responsible for relics and managing museums on mainland China...
.
The bridge lies in the prefecture-level city
Prefecture-level city
A prefectural level city , prefectural city or prefectural level municipality is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China, ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure. Prefectural level cities form the second level of the administrative...
of Quanzhou
Quanzhou
Quanzhou is a prefecture-level city in Fujian province, People's Republic of China. It borders all other prefecture-level cities in Fujian but two and faces the Taiwan Strait...
, crossing a tidal estuary
Estuary
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
that separates the town of Anhai
Anhai
Anhai is a town in southern Fujian province, People's Republic of China. It is located in the far southern suburbs of Quanzhou. and is separated by Weitou Bay from Kinmen, which is controlled by the Republic of China on Taiwan. Administratively Anhai is part of Jinjiang City...
(in the county-level city
County-level city
A county-level city is a county-level administrative division of mainland China. County-level cities are usually governed by prefecture-level divisions, but a few are governed directly by province-level divisions....
of Jinjiang) from the town of Shuitou (in the county-level city of Nan'an
Nan'an, Fujian
Nan'an is a county-level city within the Quanzhou prefecture level city, Fujian province, China. As of 2010 the city has a population of 1,500,000. More than 3,000,000 overseas Chinese trace their ancestry to Nan'an. -History:...
). It is named after Anhai, which was formerly known as Anping.
Anping Bridge consists of 331 spans of granite beams resting on top of stone piers, the largest beam weighing 25 tons. The width of the bridge varies from 3 to 3.8 m (9.8 to 12.5 ft). It originally had five pavilions where travelers could rest; however, only one pavilion still exists.
Construction of the bridge started in 1138 during the Southern Song Dynasty
Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a...
and lasted until 1151. It was originally 811 zhang [2223 metres (1.4 mi)] long and 1.6 zhang [4.4 metres (14.4 ft)] wide, with 362 spans. Upon completion, it was the longest bridge in China until 1905, inspiring the local description, "No bridge in the world is as long as this one" . There have been six major repairs since its opening, and the bridge is now shorter due to silting of the estuary.