Chinese Bridges

[GeneChing]

There's a pun to be made about glass bridges and wine vessel bridges somewhere here.

Zhengzhou spends 100 million yuan building this bridge featuring a giant ancient wine vessel



China is a land of bridges. Long ones, high ones, glass ones, swinging ones and now ones like this:




That's a brand-new bridge being built in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province in central China. The bridge's design is historically inspired. Based on a special kind of wine vessel that dates back to the ancient Shang (1600-1046 BC) and Zhou (1046-771 BC) dynasties called the jiǎ (斝).



This particular challis is 104 meters tall.



The 210-meter-long bridge cost over 100 million yuan ($15 million) to build. It's not clear how much of that was spent on the wine cup.



Either way, we say money well spent, Zhengzhou!
[Images via NetEase]

[GeneChing]

Wow. That's a serious bridge.

Beipanjiang Bridge, the world's tallest, opens to traffic in rural China


The four-lane road span of the Beipanjiang Bridge soars more than half a kilometre over the river below CREDIT: XINHUA/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK

Ed Wiseman
29 DECEMBER 2016 • 4:31PM

The world’s highest bridge has opened to traffic in a remote, mountainous part of China, adding to the country’s impressive roster of megastructures.

The Beipanjiang Bridge links the province of Guizhou and Yunnan and is expected to reduce road travel times from Liupanshui to Xuianwei from five hours to two. Its 1,341-metre span of four-lane road deck soars 564 metres over the Beipan River, making it the highest – if not the tallest – in the world.


A vehicle crosses the Beipanjiang Bridge, possibly unaware that there's half a kilometre of air between the road span and the river below. CREDIT: XINHUA/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK

China is also home to the second and third highest bridges - the Sidu River Bridge and the Puli Bridge, respectively - as well as other modern wonders such as the Three Gorges Dam (and its ship lift, the world’s largest) and growing high speed rail network.


The bridge is in a remote, mountainous part of China, a few miles downriver of the enormous Guangzhao Dam. CREDIT: XINHUA/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK

The Guangzhao Dam is a concrete gravity dam a few miles north of the Beipanjiang Bridge, designed to generate electricity using hydroelectric power generation.

The Beipanjiang is the highest rather than the tallest bridge. The tallest bridge - the bridge with the tallest structure, regardless of distance from the valley floor - remains the Millau Viaduct, a joint British-French venture on the A75 Autoroute. The road deck here is held a mere 270 metres – less than half the height of the Beipanjiang Bridge.


This diagram shows the difference between 'highest' and 'tallest' CREDIT: KEOW WEE LOONG / BARCROFT IMAGES

The Beipan river, over which the Beipanjiang Bridge carries traffic, is part of the great Pearl River basin. Because of its geography, the bridges that cross it tend to be remarkably high.

[GeneChing]

Wow. Now that's a cool bridge.

China's new topsy-turvy bridge actually has three bridges woven into one
Leanna Garfield
Jan. 12, 2017, 11:13 AM


A rendering of the Lucky Knot bridge in Changsha, China. Next Architects

A bridge doesn't need to include the standard, gray concrete beams, cables, and deck. They can twist and turn and pop with color.

That's the philosophy behind the Lucky Knot bridge in Changsha, China, which was designed by Next Architects.

Spotted by Designboom, the whimsical pedestrian bridge actually has three bridges woven into one structure. Next Architects was awarded the project after their design proposal won an international competition in 2013, Michel Schreimachers, a partner at the firm, tells Business Insider. The steel bridge in Changsha's newly redeveloped city center was completed in late 2016.

Check it out below.

The Lucky Knot stretches over a highway and the Dragon King Harbor River, sitting 78 feet above the river so boats can travel beneath it.

Next Architects

The 600-foot bridge is actually three separate bridges intertwined into one. Pedestrians can access it from eight street entrances.

Next Architects

The three walkways overlap at five points, which Schreimachers calls "moon gates."

Next Architects

The bridge's design mimics that of roller coaster tracks. Rather than just connecting the two sides, Schreimachers says, it also functions as a pedestrian playground.

Next Architects

The design team was inspired by the Chinese knot, which is how the bridge got its name.

Next Architects

In ancient Chinese folk art, the knot stands for luck and prosperity, Schreimachers says. The color red also symbolizes good fortune and joy.

Next Architects

Next Architects is known for creating unconventional bridges. The firm also built one in a Netherlands floodplain last year that can be submerged in water.

Next Architects

Source: Wired and Next Architects

Like Next's other designs, the Lucky Knot is anything but ordinary.

Next Architects

[GeneChing]

Some build bridges. Some build walls. Both go over-budget, no matter what the developers say.

HK$117.7bn Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge may run over-budget again, says Transport Sec.
10 February 2017 11:16 Elson Tong 2 min read

The Hong Kong government said on Thursday that the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge project, plagued by repeated overspending, may run over-budget once again.

Secretary for Transport and Housing Anthony Cheung Bing-leung said that the bridge’s main section may incur greater expenses than originally estimated, but did not have a precise figure. The main section is jointly funded by the governments of Hong Kong, Macau and the mainland.


Transport and housing secretary at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge. Photo: GovHK.

Originally, the main section was estimated to cost an initial RMB 15.73 billion (HK$17.75 bilion).

Hong Kong would contribute RMB 6.75 billion (HK$7.62 billion), around 43 per cent of the total whilst Macau and mainland China would contribute RMB 1.98 billion (HK$2.23 billion) and RMB 7 billion (HK$7.9 billion) respectively.

“[I] believe if there really are to be additional expenses, each of the three sides will maybe have to contribute funds according to that ratio,” said Cheung.

Construction review

He added that each of the three sides have already hired expert consultants in order to review construction progress and information provided by contractors on the bridge’s main section. “So later we will have a more reliable estimate, and we will explain this to society.”


File photo: HKFP/Tom Grundy.

Apart from the initial RMB 15.73 billion, the three sides have also obtained RMB 22 billion (HK$24.82 billion) in loans to construct the main section, to be jointly repaid after 35 years.

Cheung said that the three sides would arrive at a decision later as to whether they would have to obtain additional loans.

He added that the management of the project expected the main section to be completed by the end of this year.


Construction of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge. File Photo: GovHK

Hong Kong section within budget

Cheung said on Thursday that the Hong Kong section of the bridge project would not incur more expenses than currently budgeted. This is because the original budget has already been amended.

In 2011, the Legislative Council passed a motion authorising the government to spend HK$48.5 billion on the Hong Kong section, which consists of border checkpoints, connections to the main bridge and highways.

However, it has been plagued by repeated delays and overspending. Hong Kong is now reported to have spent a total of up to HK$117.7 billion on the bridge project.

[GeneChing]

Not quite a bridge, but who is really paying attention to that here?

LOOK: Bikini models strut their stuff on glass skywalk, 1,000 meters above the ground
BY ALEX LINDER IN NEWS ON MAY 10, 2017 4:00 PM



Due to China's fiercely competitive glass-bottomed bridge scene, a see-through skywalk built alongside a scenic cliff above a 1,000-meter drop is no longer enough to draw in the tourists, you're also going to need some girls in bikinis.
Over the weekend, a group of bikini models posed for pics on a glass skywalk alongside Baiyuan Mountain outside of Luoyang, Henan province. The photoshoot was apparently part of a local "tourism ambassador contest."











Fortunately, none of the women seem to suffer from acrophobia.

[Images via Sina]

[GeneChing]

This seems ill-advised...

LOOK: 10,000 tourists cram onto glass bridge after scenic spot opens it for free
BY ALEX LINDER IN NEWS ON JUN 13, 2017 8:20 PM



A scenic spot in central Henan province offered tourists a free walk across their terrifying glass-bottomed bridge over the weekend. It's not clear if the place knew what it was in for. Because if there's one thing that Chinese tourists love more than glass bridges; it's free stuff.



On Sunday, 10,000 visitors flocked to the 216-meter-long bridge located in a mountainous area outside of Pingdingshan city, People's Daily reports.
While in the past officials have been forced to reassure visitors of the solidity of their glass skywalks, using sledgehammers and SUVs, these brave souls were apparently completely confident in the bridge's integrity, frantically trying to squeeze in for a view of the 96-meter-drop to the ground below.



Tourist sites across China have been attempting to cash in on the country's glass bridge craze for the last couple of years. Last August, the world's highest and longest glass-bottomed bridge opened in Zhangjiajie, only to be shut down less than two weeks later after too many people wanted to walk on it.
[Images via dfic.cn]

[GeneChing]

This is a skywalk, not quite a bridge, but with all the glass bridges in this thread, I figure it needs to be posted here.

Cracks appear in glass skywalk above Pacific Ocean in Taiwan
A man was seen hitting the glass with a rock: reports
By Matthew Strong,Taiwan News, Staff Writer
2017/07/12 14:48


Cracks appeared in the Fengbin Skywalk Wednesday.

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Less than two weeks after its inauguration, cracks in the glass skywalk above the Pacific Ocean in the Hualien County township of Fengbin (豐濱) forced a shutdown Wednesday.

The first visitors were allowed to walk across and watch waves crashing into the cliffs 50 meters below on July 1.

Around Wednesday noon, reports emerged that one plate of tempered glass covering half the width of the path had cracked.

The local government immediately shut down the whole 150-meter-long path, of which a 20-meter-long stretch consists of steel beams and glass, and sent a crew to replace the broken segment. Their work was completed by Wednesday afternoon, allowing the authorities to announce that the skywalk would be open for business again on Thursday morning. Surveillance cameras would be installed, reports said.

Officials reportedly said a man had been seen hitting the glass with a rock but had run off when tourists approached. Since it had been unable to identify and locate the culprit, the local government was not planning to file a lawsuit for the time being, reports said.

Construction of the skywalk (親不知子天空步道) lasted three years and followed a track dating back to the Japanese colonial era. The entrance of the path is located next to the southern entrance of the Xinfeng Tunnel (新豐隧道) at kilometer mark 41.5 on the Hualien-Taitung Coastal Highway.

It's always some nut job with a rock...