2014 High Bridge Trip Photo Album
2014 China High Bridge Trip Photo Album
Hubei, Chongqing and Hunan Provinces
The 3-week 2014 High Bridge trip was yet another successful tour through the towering mountains of Western China with 4 big bridge fans including our first 2 U.S. tourists as well as a couple from Australia. With mostly sunny days and average temperatures the trip was great for sightseeing and photography. We also managed to get in some awesome construction tours at the Beipanjiang Railway Bridge Qinglong, the Beipanjiang Bridge Duge, the Zongxihe arch bridge, Najiehe Railway Bridge, Mengdonghe Bridge and Zhongjianhe among others.
The special spans visited during the first week included Yingwuzhou, Siduhe, Zhijinghe, Tieluoping, Longtanhe, Shuanghekou, Zhongjianhe, Xisha and Aizhai Bridges as well as a visit to Western China's most popular National Parks of Tianmen Mountain and Zhangjiajie.
Half of our group met up at the JTARD design building across from the famous Tongji University in Shanghai. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Tongji University earthquake testing skyscraper models. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Unusual cable stayed and suspension wind testing models. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Our first bridge of the trip - the Yichang Yangtze River span as seen from the hotel. Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
The "Holiday Inn" Hongqiao. Image by John Filmer.
The giant Longtanhe beam bridge is the first super size high bridge on the G50 expressway with a deck nearly 200 meters high. Image by Jorson.
Image by John Filmer.
Yexihe Railway Bridge pier nearly 100 meters tall. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
A side view of the Yexihe Railway Bridge on the high speed line from Yichang to Chongqing City. Image by John Filmer.
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Another high speed train passes in front of the towering Tieluoping cable stayed bridge. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
The Shunaghekou Bridge is the last big structure before the G50 climbs in elevation to the Siduhe Bridge. Image by Peter Wu.
Car carriers were a common site on all of China's expressways. Image by John Filmer.
Siduhe Bridge in all of its glory. 2014 was the last year this giant held onto the title of World's Highest Bridge as both Puli and Beipanjiang Duge will surpass it in 2015 and 2016. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by John Filmer.
Our trusty mini-van held out for 3 weeks of some nasty mountain driving save for the finicky air conditioning fuses. Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Nothing beats a nice stroll across China's highest suspension bridge! Image by Elly Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
A downstream dam reduced the height of the deck from 496 to 466 meters when the reservoir is full. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by John Filmer.
Zhijinghe is the world's highest road arch bridge with a deck 294 meters high. Image by John Filmer.
A train passes over the short but abyss-like gorge of the Yesan River. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
The classic 1977 Yesanhe arch bridge that was once the highest in China at 125 meters but would not even rank among China's 100 highest today. Image by Jorson.
The colorful Yesanhe pipeline suspension bridge. Image by Peter Wu.
The Enshi city stone arch ranks among the 20 longest of its type in the world. Today it is only open to pedestrians. Image by Peter Wu.
No visit to Enshi would be complete without a visit to their popular Wind and Rain bridge even if much of it is made of concrete and not wood. Image by John Filmer.
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by John Filmer.
The amazing cliffs of the Enshi Grand Canyon. Image by John Filmer.
A small arch crosses 77 meters above the lower river within Enshi Grand Canyon. Image by Peter Wu.
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by John Filmer.
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Once the main bridge across the canyon, the original 57 meter high Yunlong Bridge one-lane arch is now a covered pedestrian-only bridge that leads hikers down into the river gorge. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by Mr. Chen.
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Elly Filmer.
Image by Peter Wu.
Image by Unknown.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by Mr. Chen.
Image by Unknown.
The vertical cliffs and towering spires of Enshi Grand Canyon are accessible by cliffwalks that are more then 100 meters high. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Mr. Chen.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by Peter Wu.
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Unknown.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Stair widening. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Peter Wu.
The most famous rock formation in Enshi Grand Canyon is this impossibly narrow spire overlooking the valley hundreds of meters below. Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by Jorson.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
The Qingjiang Bridge on the G50 expressway is one of the world's highest single tower cable stayed bridges. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Gaodongxi is the first of several high bridges on the new expressway between Enshi and Qianjiang cities. Image by John Filmer.
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
The Shibanxi Bridge is another skyscraper on the new expressway south of Enshi. Image by John Filmer.
The concrete road barrier on Shibanxi was under construction more then 100 meters above our heads. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
A truck had crashed over the side of the road to Qinajiang. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Zhongjianhe was our first big under construction bridge of the trip with the central truss span of 400 meters just days from closure. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Image from engineer Douzhiming.
The very center of the bridge could only be crossed on wood planks. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
One of the highest arch bridges in Hubei at 190 meters, the Long Bridge is a CFST arch that opened to traffic in early 2015. Image by Jorson.
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
We traveled along the expressway for more then ten kilometers across several bridges and through a number of tunnels before it became too difficult to go on the unpaved sections. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Another big beam bridge over 100 meters high on the new expressway. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Qianjiang City had a number of nice waterfront streets and restaurants. Image by John Filmer.
Many of the hotels had Mahjong games in the rooms. Image by John Filmer.
Rising almost 150 meters above the Qianjiang river is this picture perfect pipeline arch. Image by John Filmer.
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Peter Wu.
In 2013 the beautiful goddess Avalokiteśvara was carved into the cliffside just south of Qianjiang City to attract tourists to the gorge. The bas-relief sculpture is said to be 123 meters high with a width of 69 meters but the top of the sculpture is almost 300 meters above the river surface. Image by John Filmer.
Image by Peter Wu.
The road to the new airport was being widened necessitating the addition of a parallel arch next to the original from several years earlier. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
In addition to the Avalokiteśvara cliff sculpture, the new gorge park also offers tourists another one of Western China's new cliffwalks. Image by Peter Wu.
The Yanxigou bridge is one of the more beautiful beam spans on the G65 expressway near Qianjiang. Image by John Filmer.
The Xisha bridge is the highest arch on the G65 rising more then 200 meters above a deep crevasse. Image by Peter Wu.
Image by Peter Wu.
This cinder block wall originally looked like a shark head before the upper section collapsed sometime in the year prior. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
The "Xisha Shark" back in 2011. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
The Xisha Bridge gorge. Image by John Filmer.
The most famous high bridge in all of China is arguably the Aizhai suspension bridge that rises 330 meters above a small town. A visitors center and tourist walkway inside the truss below the main road deck were finally completed and opened to the public in 2015. Image by John Filmer.
Image by Jorson.
Image by Peter Wu.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by Peter Wu.
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
A sign is all that remains of the 300 meter high tightrope walk by Adili Hoshur in 2012. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
The steel cable was left up until 2013 or early 2014 before it was cut. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
John Filmer tries the walk without a balancing pole! Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
A nearly completed tourist plaza just below the north tower. Image by John Filmer.
Every trip has a best and a worst hotel and the hotel below the Aizhai Bridge was surely the worst with broken air conditioners and showers with water pressure equal to a toy squirt gun. But the view of the Aizhai Bridge was great. Image by John Filmer.
On overloaded truck loses his brakes and wheel from the long descending road into the Aizhai valley. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Mr. Chen.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Aizhai Bridge from the hotel. Image by John Filmer.
The nearly complete elevator for tourists to descend from the parking area to the bridge truss walkway. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Aizhai street breakfast. Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
The giant Morong Bridge staging area was busy with workers constructing the massive piers that will support 3 spans of 170 meters on the new expressway between Jishou and Yongshun. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Morong River valley. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Morong Bridge drawing. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
The giant Furongzhen Bridge will cross a reservoir on a giant beam span of 230 meters. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Furongzhen Bridge construction from the local 2-lane arch bridge. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
A drawing of the giant 250 meter high Mengdonghe Yongji Bridge that was under construction. Image by Peter Wu.
There was not much to see but the Mengdonghe Yongji arch bridge personnel were incredibly welcoming and gave us a tour of the construction site. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
A downpour just 30 minutes before our bridge tour was enough to get our car stuck in the mud before some good old fashioned manpower freed us. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
We encountered this beautiful river gorge on our trek north on local roads to the Zhangjiajie expressway. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
The Lishuihe suspension bridge is not as famous as the Aizhai Bridge despite having a deck just as high at 330 meters. Image by John Filmer.
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by John Filmer.
With half the group heading up to Tianmen Mountain, I returned to the Lishuihe Bridge with our interpreter Jorson to see if some nice vantage points could be found but there was mostly a lot of corn and trees obscuring the deep river gorge. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Our hotel in Wulingyuan near Zhangjiajie National Park. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
The morning wait to get on the Tianmen Mountain gondola. Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
The first stretch of the Tinamen Mountain gondola is an odd journey over apartment buildings and parking lots. Image by John Filmer.
The upper section however, is possibly the most beautiful terrain of any gondola ride in the world. Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Clouds obscured much of the fantastic scenery. Image by John Filmer.
The cliffside glasswalk is one of the highest in the world at over 250 meters straight down. Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
New cliffwalks under construction on the backside of the mountain. Image by Peter Wu.
Image by John Filmer.
The backside of the great Tianmen Mountain "hole". Image by John Filmer.
Some of the famous 99 turns of the Tianmen Mountain bus road. Image by Peter Wu.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Cliff overhang on the bus road to the Tianmen Mountain hole. Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by Unknown.
There are more then 400 steps up to the bottom of the giant hole. Image by John Filmer.
The plaza covers the roof of a 5 star hotel that opened in 2015. Image by John Filmer.
Image by Peter Wu.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by Unknown.
We had a great evening dinner hosted by Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon owners Lorna and her husband Mr. Chen with famous bungee master AJ Hackett who will be installing the world's highest public bungy jump from the center of the Zhangjiajie Glass footbridge in 2016. Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Our trek west to Guizhou included a stop at the Mengdonghe Zhanghua arch where John and I took a "tour" to the top of the giant arch rib. Image by Peter Wu.
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by John Filmer.
Elly Filmer waits for us at the foundation of the giant concrete filled steel tubular ribs. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Fenghuang City gate. Image by John Filmer.
Fenghuang city is one of the most popular ancient tourist cities in Hunan Province with many riverfront buildings and streets preserved to look old. Our arrival was only a few weeks after a nasty flood roared through the city and destroyed dozens of shops and stores near the river as well as wiping out the railings of some of the footbridges. Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by Mr. Chen.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by Peter Wu.
Image by Mr. Chen.
Image by John Filmer.
Image by John Filmer.
Fenghuang City Hotel. Image by John Filmer.
Click on Page 2 for Week Two with views of the Guizhou Province Bridges and More!