Wayne and Judy Lewis on Yangtze River
Wushan Yangtze River Bridge in Chongqing Municipality, China. Wushan Yangtze River Bridge 巫山长江大桥 Wushan, Chongqing, China 590 feet high / 180 meters high 1,509 foot span / 460 meter span 2005 Source: http://highestbridges.com/wiki/index.php?title=Wushan_Yangtze_River_Bridge The Wushan Yangtze River Bridge is an arch bridge, which crosses the Yangtze River near Wushan, Chongqing, China. Completed in 2005, the 130 metres (430 ft) high arch spans 460 metres (1,510 ft) ranking it in the top ten longest arch bridges in the world.[1] The bridge is also among the highest in the world however, the reservoir created by the construction of the Three Gorges Dam has increased the height of the water below the bridge, and the full 180 metres (590 ft) clearance is no longer visible. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wushan_Yangtze_River_Bridge One of the largest and most spectacular arch bridges ever built, the Wushan Yangtze River bridge is the second crossing of the 3 Gorges reservoir upstream of the massive dam. A gateway to the city of Wushan, millions of visitors a year pass under the bridge as they travel up through the famous 3 Gorges region of the Yangtze River. A half through arch with a main span of 1,509 feet (460 meters), Wushan ranks 7th among the world’s longest span arch bridges. The main arch was constructed using the stayed cantilever method whereby a tower is erected on either side of the gorge and cables temporarily radiate out from it to support individual sections of the arch until the two halves can be joined in the middle. A cable high line between the tops of the two towers was used to move the steel sections into place high above the river. Once the arch was closed, concrete was pumped into the 8 main ribs of the arch span, stiffening and strengthening the entire structure. If you are traveling through the 3 Gorges region, I highly recommend you visit the bridge by disembarking your boat at the dock in Wushan and hiring a taxi driver to take you to the bridge. Plan on a one hour round trip drive to the bridge plus another hour to photograph it and take a stroll across. Just be sure to get back to the dock in time for the last boat! A beautiful scene of the bridge being lit up at night can be seen in the excellent 2005 Chinese movie Still Life which chronicles a man’s journey to find his wife. Photographed in and around the cities of Wushan and Fengjie when they were being rebuilt to accommodate the rising reservoir, the film has a slow, lingering pace that captures a world that is sometimes so real it seems almost surreal. It won the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film festival. It is available for rental on Netflix. Source: http://highestbridges.com/wiki/index.php?title=Wushan_Yangtze_River_Bridge
Wushan Yangtze River Bridge in Chongqing Municipality, China.