Difference between revisions of "2013 High Bridge Trip Photo Album"
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− | A railway train crosses the Shuanghekou creek. The Yichang-Wanzhou Railway roughly parallels the G50 and is the most difficult stretch of railway line ever undertaken anywhere in the world. No other railway line outside China has more then one bridge over 100 meters - the Wanzhou line has | + | A railway train crosses the Shuanghekou creek. The Yichang-Wanzhou Railway roughly parallels the G50 and is the most difficult stretch of railway line ever undertaken anywhere in the world. No other railway line outside China has more then one bridge over 100 meters high - the Wanzhou line has six. Of the 377 kilometer length, 288 kilometers are on bridges or in tunnels. Image by Richard Scott. |
Revision as of 07:37, 28 November 2013
2013 China High Bridge Trip Photo Album
Hubei and Chongqing Provinces
The 3-week 2013 High Bridge trip was another grand adventure through the mountains of Western China to visit the world's 10 highest bridges as well as many other spans and several spectacular national parks. Our guests included 3 retirees made up of British dentist Lee Choong and engineering twins John and Ray Morrison of Australia. Rounding out the group of bridge fans was Canadian 'In the Wake of Tacoma' bridge book author Richard Scott. Our translator was yet another energetic Tongji University bridge engineering student with the famous name of Bruce Lee. On board for the second year in a row was our trusty driver Mr. Chen who navigated us safely along more then 2,000 miles / 3,500 kilometers of often treacherous roads.
If there was one word to describe the 2013 trip it would be HOT! Record temperatures were being broken throughout many parts of China during our 3 week trek and it often made it difficult to want to get out of the comfortable confines of our air conditioned mini-van to snap some photos of a bridge. Luckily our group of gray-haired grandpas were up for anything and never hesitated or showed fear to visit any bridge I wanted to visit whether it required dodging highway traffic, climbing over a wall, hoping on a boat, hiking along a creek or taking a concrete slide down into a canyon.
Our new rental car held up well as it was put through an unusually high amount of abuse along more miles of rough, bumpy and broken roads then all of my previous China trips combined. The weather was only sunny half the time but we did manage to evade any rain for nearly the entire trip. Everyone seemed to enjoy the food even if they did not always know what kind of vegetable they were eating but by the end of the trip we all knew what kinds of meats we liked or wanted to avoid.
We are eternally gratefull to the Chinese engineers and authorities we met who were kind, generous and always willing to let us climb on their bridges like children in a playground. These surprise tours took us above and below some of the most amazing spans in the history of bridge construction including an elevator ride up one of the world's tallest bridge towers, a walk through one of the world's largest suspension bridge trusses and a precarious hike across a chicken-wire footbridge nearly 300 meters high. A special thanks to Liupanshui County engineer Zhou Ping and the wonderful Pung family who treated us like royalty in their own personal kingdom - the Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Park. Finally a thanks to all the Chinese locals who were always friendly and often curious as to why we would travel halfway around the world to visit their remote town or bridge.
Look for an even more exciting Chinese in adventure in 2014 when we visit more than 75 of the world's highest spans including first ever construction site visits to the highest road and railway bridges on earth!
The special spans visited during the first week included Yingwuzhou, Siduhe, Zhijinghe, Tieluoping, Longtanhe, Shuanghekou, Xiaohe, Caijiagou and Qiancobei Bridges as well as a visit to Western China's most populous city of Chongqing where the world's longest span arch and beam bridges reside in the form of Chaotianmen and Shibanpo.
Our first meal together at a great dumpling restaurant near Tongji University. On the left is Richard Scott with twin brothers Ray and John Morrison. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
All of my China trips seem to begin at Tongji University in Shangahi which has the best and most extensive bridge engineering courses of any school in China. Image by Richard Scott.
Image by John Morrison.
Tongji also has China's only Bridge Engineering library with hundreds of unique journals and books that can only be found here. Image by John Morrison.
The Shanghai Tower had just had just been topped out in August as the world's 2nd tallest skyscraper. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Our pre-trip day in Shanghai included a visit to Tongji University where scaled down versions of China's tallest skyscrapers are tested for earthquake resilience on giant shake tables. Image by Richard Scott.
The Shanghai Tower on the left surpassed the Shanghai World Financial Center on the right to become China's tallest skyscraper. Others will surpass both of them in the years to come. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
I have known bridge engineer Shijie Du for more then 8 years since our first bridge trip in 2006. He now works across the street from Tongji University at the famous Tongji Architectural Design and Research Institute. He gave us an evening tour of the modern building where many of its many architectural models are on display. Image by Richard Scott.
There is even a model of the TJARD building headquarters that was once a major bus station. Image by Richard Scott.
Shijie Du and Bruce Lee watch the Morrison brothers battle each other with a game of Ping Pong. Image by Richard Scott.
Our first night was spent at Tonji University's Guest House. Image by Richard Scott.
We spent the afternoon along Shanghai's famous tourist street - East Nanjing Road. Image by John Morrison.
Shanghai's famous Urban Planning Center overlooking the People's Park. Image by Richard Scott.
Looking like the lost city of Oz, a group of skyscrapers greets visitors in the rotunda of the Shanghai Urban Planning Center. Image by John Morrison.
The incredible model of the center of Shanghai that also includes several bridge crossings of the Huangpu River. Image by John Morrison.
The model transitions into a night mode with colorful lighting on many of the iconic buildings. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
The giant Lupu Bridge, once the world's longest arches with a span of 550 meters. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
They even included the Tongji University campus. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
The top floor of the Shanghai Urban Planning Center has a great view of the Shanghai skyline. Image by Richard Scott.
We spent the later part of the afternoon strolling through several of Shanghai's best bookstores. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Our trip finally began on the morning of August 3rd on China's new high speed line between Hongqiao station in Shanghai and Hankou station in Wuhan. China opened their first high speed line in 2007 and now have the largest high speed rail network in the world! Image by Richard Scott.
World traveler Lee Choong has been to China many times but this is his first to visit bridges. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
The huge train yard west of Hongqiao station. Image by Richard Scott.
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
One of the thousands of new apartment buildings along the route west of Shanghai. Image by Richard Scott.
Interpreter and Tonji bridge engineering student Li Xiaolong which means little dragon. It is also the real name of famous martial arts legend Bruce Lee so Li picked that as his English name. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Another high speed train heads east to Shanghai. Image by Richard Scott.
Beautiful mountains east of Nanjing. Image by Richard Scott.
Our group disembarks in Wuhan, 821 kilometers from our start in Shanghai. Image by Richard Scott.
Our driver Mr. Chen met us in Wuhan after driving more then 1,200 kilometers from Guiyang city in Guizhou Province. Image by Richard Scott.
The great Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge looked spectacular from our hotel room at the Holiday Inn. This was the very first large bridge to cross the Yangtze when it was completed in 1957. The giant road and rail bridge was the model by which the more famous First Nanjing Bridge was based on. Russian Bridge engineers assisted in the design of the double decker truss that carries 2 tracks of the Beijing-Guangzhou line on the bottom as well as 4 road lanes and 2 pedestrian walkways on the top. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Not all the rooms faced the Yangtze River but the Morrisons got a nice view of the Han River arch bridge. This is one of many CFST bridges in China where the arch ribs are steel tubes filled with concrete. Image by John Morrison.
Image by Richard Scott.
The railway lines are in constant use day and night. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
The soaring cables of the Yingwuzhou double span suspension bridge cross the Yangtze just 2 kilometers upstream from the famous railway bridge. Each span is 850 meters supported by towers as high as 150 meters above the river. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
The neighborhoold just south of the Yingwuzhou Bridge shows the strong contrast between the old and the new China with entire blocks of buildings being bulldozed over to make room for stylish new apartment buildings and malls. Image by Richard Scott.
The Morrisons stroll through the mostly abandoned buildings whose days are numbered. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Room for rent with private walk-up entrance and partial views of the Yangtze River! Image by John Morrison.
The main cables of the Yingwuzhou Bridge had been completed just days before our arrival. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Workers had just begun the process of adding the cable clamps that will support hundreds of vertical stringers that hold the deck up. Image by John Morrison.
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
The west tower of Yingwuzhou Bridge crosses over a riverfront park. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
The central tower of Yingwuzhou Bridge as seen from the railway bridge. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Our first official dinner of the trip in Wuhan. Image by Richard Scott.
The Morrisons take in another view of the Han River arch bridge. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
A dancer performs along the Han River waterfront. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Bruce asks a local swimmer - Which way to Chongqing? Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Opened in 2001, the Yichang Bridge has one of the longest suspension spans in China at 960 meters and still ranks among the 35 longest spans in the world. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by John Morrison.
A wide load along the G50 expressway south of Yichang. Image by Richard Scott.
The incredible G50 expressway in Hubei Province with more then 120 kilometers of tunneling including several monsters like this one that is over 8 kilometers! In less then 3 weeks, everyone on the trip had passed through more miles of tunnels then in all the previous years of their life combined. Image by Richard Scott.
The city of Langpingzhen was oddly quiet during our afternoon lunch visit. Image by Richard Scott.
Our second lunch of the trip in Langpingzhen. Image by John Morrison.
The gargantuan Longtanhe Viaduct with 200 meter spans perched almost 200 meters above the valley floor. This was the world's 2nd largest viaduct for several years behind France's Millau Viaduct. China's own Chishi and Sanshuihe viaducts have recently pushed it further down to 4th place among all the world's viaducts but it is still an impressive site to behold. Image by Richard Scott.
A pile of discarded bicycles and motorbikes near Langpingzhen. Image by Richard Scott.
The only cable stayed bridge on the G50 is the impressive Tieluoping Bridge with a height of 209 meters and a main span of 322 meters. Image by Richard Scott.
A group photo near the Tieluoping Bridge along the older National road 318. Image by John Morrison.
The Shuanghekou Bridge on the G50 is most impressive for its piers which are 163 meters tall. Image by Richard Scott.
A railway train crosses the Shuanghekou creek. The Yichang-Wanzhou Railway roughly parallels the G50 and is the most difficult stretch of railway line ever undertaken anywhere in the world. No other railway line outside China has more then one bridge over 100 meters high - the Wanzhou line has six. Of the 377 kilometer length, 288 kilometers are on bridges or in tunnels. Image by Richard Scott.
Siduhe in all its glory! With a deck nearly 500 meters high this is far and away the world's highest suspension bridge. Image by Richard Scott.
The giant yellow towers support a Tacoma-sized span of 900 meters. Image by Richard Scott.
The Morrisons check out the center of the bridge which has a steel truss locking the deck to the main cables. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
The road deck is approximately 24 meters wide with 26 meters between the center of the cables. Image by Richard Scott.
Image by Bruce Lee.
Just east of Siduhe is the giant Shuinan Viaduct carrying the G50 expressway 110 meters above a wide ravine. Image by John Morrison.
A large pipeline bridge frames up a striking view of the Siduhe Bridge. Image by Bruce Lee.
The east Siduhe Bridge anchorage terminates into a deep mountain tunnel. Image by John Morrison.
Image by John Morrison.
The Yesanguan city hotel more then 1,000 meters above sea level. Note the odd building on the right where several new floors seem to be getting constructed on top of an older building. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Ray might look a little scared to move with good reason. The Morrisons inadvertently knocked a mirror off the wall and sent it crashing to the floor! Like many things in China, you have to watch every step you take as items are often poorly situated or attached with shoddy connections. Image by John Morrison.
The many shards of the Morrison mirror mishap. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
A late dinner next to the main plaza in Yesanguan. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
The Yesanguan restaurant family was happy and surprised to see foreigners. Image by Richard Scott.
Currently the world's highest arch bridge at 292 meters, the concrete filled steel tubes of the Zhijinghe arch were mostly obscured in rain clouds. The central span of 430 meters ranks it among the world's 12 longest arch spans. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
The 200 meter span of the Yesanhe River G50 expressway. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
One of several major bridges across the Yesanhe, this pipeline bridge is the latest high wire act with a span of 240 meters. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
The famous Yesanhe national road 318 bridge was the highest in China back when it opened in 1977 with a deck to river drop of 125 meters. Today it would not even rank among China's 100 highest bridges. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
The herculean central pier of the Mahuihe Railway bridge supports two beam spans of 116 meters along the Yichang-Wanzhou line. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
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Click on Page 2 for Week Two with views of the Zhangjiajie Area Bridges and More!