Zhongshan Bridge

History

In 1372, general Feng Sheng was ordered to defend the remains of the Yuan dynasty west of the Yellow River, so he sent one of his commanders to build a pontoon bridge over the Yellow River seven li west of Lanzhou. In 1385, the pontoon bridge was moved below Baitashan near the city of Lanzhou, where the river flowed faster and the bridge would be easier to defend. The pontoon bridge would remain for another 524 years. It was at this location that Zhongshan bridge would be built too.

The pontoon bridge improved transportation, but during high water it would be impassable, and during winter, it was damaged by ice. Hence the bridge was disassembled each winter, only to be assembled again come spring.

In 1866 Zuo Zongtang, governor of Gansu and Shaanxi, decided that an iron bridge had to be built. He negotiated with a German businessman, but they could not agree on the price, so the plan was shelved. After a flood destroyed the pontoon bridge again in 1904, the need for an iron bridge became urgent.

Belgian-born Lanzhou native Paul Splingaerd, known also by his Chinese name Lin Fuchen (林輔臣), was contacted by Lanzhou major Peng Yingjia to negotiate with Belgian companies for the construction of a bridge in Lanzhou. In 1906, he returned to Belgium for the first time in 40 years, to look for engineers and participating companies to construct a bridge in Lanzhou. However he could not get any company to sign a contract, and died from illness on the way back to Lanzhou.

Later that year, construction of an iron bridge was negotiated successfully with the German company Telge & Schroeter operating out of Tianjin. In addition, an 80-year warranty was negotiated for the bridge to survive the torrent of the river. The bridge was designed by an American company and would have a maximum load of 8 tonnes, meant for horse-drawn carriages.

Steel truss components, cement and a variety of equipment and machinery was all brought in from Germany through the port of Tianjin. Since the Longhai railway wasn't completed yet, everything was brought by train up to Xinxiang railway station, then by horse-drawn carts to Lanzhou via Xi'an. In 1909, after 21 months, all 36 batches of materials had arrived in Lanzhou.

Construction of the bridge started on May 9, 1908.

The bridge was painted with a mixture of fish oil and rosin, making it bright orange.

On 26 July 1909, the completion of the bridge was celebrated with a banquet. Finally, on 19 August 1909 the bridge was opened to traffic.

Pailou were built on both ends of the bridge shortly before the bridge's completion. However, they were destroyed during the Republic of China period.

During the Sino-Japanese war, the bridge was painted grey to avoid bombing by Japanese war planes. The color has remained since then.

In 1954, the bridge structure was strengthened with steel arches placed on top of the truss structure.

In 2002, motor vehicles over 0.5 tonnes were prohibited from using the bridge, which was never designed for use by cars or trucks.

In 2013, all motor vehicles were prohibited on the bridge.

Gallery

|File:兰州中山桥夜间北河岸.jpg | |兰州黄河铁桥 南侧.jpg | |ZhongShan brige,LanZhou,China - panoramio.jpg | |File:ZhongShanBridgeLanzhou.jpg}}

References

References

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