Tailai Bridge

Tailai Bridge

Tailai Bridge

Spanning two polders, Chongzi and another unnamed one, in the 13th year of the Chongzhen reign during the Ming Dynasty (1640), a local resident named Ma Erxi contributed fifty taels of silver to build a wooden bridge. In the 11th year of the Qianlong reign in the Qing Dynasty (1746), Xu Huan rebuilt it with stone, and it was repaired again in the 11th year of the Daoguang reign (1831). In 2003, the town government funded the replacement of the eastern and western stone beams with new ones (the eastern stone beam had fractured in the autumn of 1983 and was temporarily replaced with cement, while the western stone beam fractured in March 2003), and carried out partial repairs to the bridge. This is the tallest stone bridge in the center of Tongli Town, featuring a single arch. The bridge abutments are made of bluestone, while the rest is constructed from granite. Wooden railings are installed on both the eastern and western sides. This bridge is no longer—used as a main thoroughfare; pedestrians now cross via Zhongchuan Bridge on its eastern side. The bridge is 30.85 meters long, with a deck width of 3.43 meters and an approach width of 4.94 meters. It has a rise of 4.35 meters and a span of 10.85 meters. The inner sides of the bridge piers on both the north and south ends are inscribed with the words “Constructed in the spring of the Qianlong Bingyin year by Lady Xu Huanzhang.” Two pairs of couplets are carved on the pillar stones: the eastern one reads “A bridge reconnects heaven and earth, flanked by towers guarding the jade dragon,” and the western one reads “Travelers ascending from the clouds inscribe their pillars, those crossing the river emerge from the mirror.”