6 MOST OUTSTANDING BRIDGES OF SHANGHAI

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6 MOST OUTSTANDING BRIDGES OF SHANGHAI

Chinese people have built tens of thousands bridges (in Chinese -  qiáo 桥) over past thousands of years. The bridges have become an important symbol of Chinese ancient civilization, and demonstrate the intelligence and talent of ancient Chinese people. The oldest bridge still in existence and standing strong in china is the Anji Bridge constructed during the years between 595 and 605.

Picture source:china.org.cn; Anji Bridge

Ancient Chinese bridges are universally acknowledged and have enjoyed high prestige in the bridge history of both the East and the West. Throughout history, the Chinese nation has erected thousands of ingeniously designed and magnificent bridges. Crossing over mountains, spanning rivers, they have facilitated transportation, beautified landscapes and have become one of the marks of ancient Chinese civilization.
In modern times in particular during the infrastructure boom of the past two decades, bridge-building has proceeded at a rapid pace on a vast scale.
In fact out of the top 35 longest bridges in the world China have built 17 of them.

Here’s a list of 6 most outstanding bridges in our amazing city!

1.Songpu Bridge 松浦大桥 Sōngpǔ dàqiáo

Structural type: double-layer steel truss bridge for highway and railway
Location:  between Chedun Town and Yewei Town in Songjiang District.
Completed in: 1976
Total length: 419.6m

It’s the first and oldest bridge built on  the Huangpu River.
First it was named Huangpu River Bridge. In 1989, it  was renamed the Cheting Bridge.In the 1990s, the newly built trans-Huangpu River Bridge in Shanghai was named after the Puxi area name and Jiapu Bridge (such as Nanpu Bridge and Yangpu Bridge). Therefore, in 1995, the Cheting Bridge was renamed Songpu Bridge with the word "Pu" after the first name of Songjiang County (now Songjiang District) and it is still used today.
It is a double-layer steel truss bridge for highway and railway across the Huangpu River in Songjiang District, Shanghai, China.

2.Waibaidu Bridge 外白渡桥 Wàibáidù Qiáo

Structural type: camelback truss bridge (a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements usually forming triangular units)
Location: the downstream of the estuary of the Suzhou Creek, near its confluence with the Huangpu River, adjacent to the Bund in central Shanghai
Completed in: 1907
Total length: 104.9 m

Called the Garden Bridge in English, is the first all-steel bridge, and the only surviving example of a camelback truss bridge, in China.
Before bridges were built over the Suzhou Creek (then known as the Wusong River), citizens had to use one of three ferry crossings: one near Zhapu Road, one at Jiangxi Road, and one near the mouth of the Suzhou River. These crossings ('du' in Chinese) were the only way to ford the river, until the construction of a sluice gate built in the Ming dynasty, later known as "Old Sluice", where the current Fujian Road bridge is located. During the Qing dynasty, another sluice bridge ("New Sluice") was constructed during the reign of the Yongzheng Emperor (1723–1735), near the location of today's Datong Road bridge.

With Shanghai becoming an international trade port through the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842, and foreign powers being granted concessions in the city, traffic between both sides of Suzhou River soared in the 1850s, increasing the need for a bridge close to the mouth of the river.
In October 1856, a British businessman named Charles Wills, with the finances provided by a consortium of twenty investors, called the Soochow Creek Bridge Company,  the first company in China focusing mainly on bridge construction, constructed the first foreign bridge across the Suzhou Creek.The location was at the outermost ferry crossing to ease traffic between the British Settlement to the south, and the American Settlement to the north of Suzhou River.
"The bridge was open to anyone who could pay the small toll, a thing hateful to the Shanghai public".

By 1870, Wills' bridge was quite worn out. The Shanghai Municipal Council (SMC) instructed the owners to repair it, but it was ignored.
In October 1873, the Shanghai Municipal Council bought out the owners of the Wills' bridge. Wills' bridge was destroyed, and a new bridge was constructed. It  was completed in August 1876.
Sometime after the Public Garden at the northern end of the Bund opened in 1886, and due to its proximity, the Waibaidu bridge was also called the "Garden Bridge" in English.
Colloquially, the bridge was also known as the 'Beggars' Bridge" or "Bridge of Sighs" by 1873,because "here may be seen the most abject poverty and human misery - sights pitiful enough to draw tears from the eyes of the gorgeous granite-stone dragons who watch the passing, living stream of human wretchedness. The deformed, the leprous, the blind, and the most hideous and disgusting semblance of humanity squat in rows and knots along the sides" of this bridge.

The wooden Garden Bridge was demolished in 1906 and a new steel bridge was constructed to accommodate both trams and automobiles. This bridge was built under the supervision of the Shanghai Municipal Council, and imported the steel from England.
The bridge was completed on 29 December 1907. When it was opened on 20 January 1908, "it was the most substantial structure in China".
It was repaired and renovated several times and in December 2007, the Waibaidu bridge celebrated its centenary.

3. Lupu Bridge 卢浦大桥 Lúpǔ Dàqiáo

Structural Type: arch bridge
Location: from Luban Road in Puxi to Jiyang Road in Pudong Shanghai
Completed in: 2003
Total length: 3 900 m

It is the world's second longest steel arch bridge, after the Chaotianmen Bridge in Chongqing. The bridge was envisioned to ease congestion between the quickly developing areas in southern Puxi, as well as to help cope with the traffic expected for Expo 2010.
When the bridge was completed, it became the world's longest arch bridge, surpassing the earlier title holder, the New River Gorge Bridge in Fayetteville, West Virginia. An inauguration ceremony was held on June 27, 2003, featuring a group of runners, including Yao Ming, who were the first to cross the bridge. The bridge opened to vehicular traffic the next day.
The Lupu Arch Bridge, Shanghai, China, received the 2008 IABSE Outstanding Structure Award for being "A soaring box-arch bridge with a record span, clean impressive lines and innovative use of the side spans of the arch and the deck to resist the thrust of the main arch."

4.Xupu Bridge 徐浦大桥 Xúpǔ Dàqiáo

Structural Type: cable-stayed bridge
Location: S4 Hujin Expy, Minhang Qu,
Completed in: 1997
Total length: over 1172 m

It is a cable-stayed bridge over the Huangpu River in Shanghai, China, so named because it connects the city's Xuhui and Pudong districts. It connects two freeways of Shanghai: one leading to Nanjing and the other to Hangzhou. It opened in 1997 and carries 8 lanes of the S20 Outer Ring Expressway.

5. Yangpu Bridge 杨浦大桥 Yángpǔ Dàqiáo

Structural Type: cable-stayed bridge
Location: Songpan Rd, Yangpu Qu
Completed in: 1993
Total length: 8 354 m

Sister bridge to the Nanpu Bridge, is among the world's longest bridges. The bridge was designed by the Shanghai Municipal Engineering Design Institute, Shanghai Urban Construction College, and Shanghai Urban Construction Design Institute, with assistance from Holger S. Svensson. It was built by the Shanghai Huangpujiang Bridge Engineering Construction company.
The bridge was originally unpainted; it was coated with red paint for the millennium. The name Yangpu Bridge (杨浦大桥) inscribed on each pylon was originally hand-written by Deng Xiaoping.

6. Nanpu Bridge 南浦大桥 Nánpǔ dàqiáo

Structural Type: cable-stayed bridge
Location:No.1410, Nanma Road;
Completed in: 1991
Total length: 765 m

It is the first bridge to cross the Huangpu River from central Shanghai, linking it with the Pudong district across the river. The bridge and its spiral approaches are a major connection across the river and between Zhongshan South Road and Lu Jiabing Road.
The idea of building a bridge has been popular since the 1920s. In 1975 Songpu Bridge was built, and although it reduced pressure temporarily it did not solve the problem of busy traffic on the Huangpu River because it was too far from the central city area.
The idea of building another bridge over the Huangpu River again became the focus and in August 1986 the state council approved the application for the Nanpu Bridge project. In July 1988 the Shanghai government set up the Nanpu Bridge head office, and construction began some months later. In 1990, when the Chinese government decided to make Pudong District a major development area, the building of Nanpu Bridge became an even more important project.

Information sources
 

https://www.skyscrapercity.com/
Wikipedia
https://www.shanghaihighlights.com/