Tian Bridge
Tian Bridge
天桥特大桥
Weining, Guizhou, China
750 feet high / 229 meters high
722 foot span / 220 meter span
2013
The kind of bulky, brawny beam bridge we have come to expect on a Guizhou expressway, Tian Bridge has one of the region's longest spans at 220 meters as well as one of the tallest piers at 150 meters. The S20 Weining-Bijie expressway might not but very long but it has 3 of the highest beam bridges in the world. These include Qixinghe at nearly 250 meters in height and the expressway's biggest rock star, the Hezhang Bridge with an epic pier 195 meters tall that ranks 3rd in the world and first in China.
Locked between two mountain tunnels, Tian Bridge is the closest large bridge to Weining city near the southern end of the expressway with a span configuration of 7-40 +116+220+116 +4-40 meters.
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
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
The bridge was nearly finished in August of 2011 with only a layer of pavement and the center barrier still missing. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
A view looking north up the Maling River gorge. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
A view looking 790 feet (241 meters) straight down to the river! Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Roger Perrin stands on the connector midway up the east tower. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
The west side approach spans. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
A view looking south with the arch bridge barely visible in the upper left. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
A view of the cable stayed bridge from the arch. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
A path leads down into the gorge where there are many beautiful waterfalls cascading over 100 meters into the river. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
The arch deck is 470 feet (143 meters) high. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
One of 4 footbridges that cross the river in the vicinity of the arch bridge. The walkways were cut into the vertical cliffs on both sides of the canyon. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
A view of the cable sockets at the top of the east tower. The socket on the far left holds back the longest cable which reaches almost to the center of the span. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
The thin wire wrapping around each cable assists in water runoff which reduces cable oscillations that are caused by the rain and wind. The phenomenon has been well documented - especially since cable stayed bridges have grown in size. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Georges.
East approach spans. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
A new boulevard and skyscrapers in the city of Zunyi can be seen through the smog. All of this was built in the last ten years. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Georges of France and Roger of England enjoy the view from the top of the east tower which is more then 1,000 feet (300 meters) above the river level. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Georges.
