Old Wu Bridge

Old Wu Bridge

Old Wu Bridge is a protected cultural heritage site of Luoyang City.

Old Wu Bridge is located 1,000 meters upstream from the current Luohe River Bridge and is the first reinforced concrete bridge built in modern times in Henan Province. In the 10th year of the Republic of China (1921), the renowned industrialist and educator Zhang Jian organized the Shanghai Northern Engineers Association to hold an engineering exhibition in Luoyang. Wu Peifu persuaded Zhang Jian to fund the construction of a bridge. Zhang Jian designed and built a double-column, simply supported reinforced concrete beam bridge over the Luohe River south of the Xigong military camp, consisting of 23 spans—21 in the middle, each with a single span of 9.20 meters, and one 6-meter span on each end, for a total length of 205.2 meters and a width of 6.10 meters. The bridge deck had a clear width of 5.60 meters, and the piers were edged with bluestone with underground foundations about 6 meters deep, cast with a mixture of cement and stone. Cement railings were installed along both sides of the bridge deck. Wu Peifu named the bridge “Tianjin Bridge.” In June of the 11th year of the Republic of China (1922), the Luohe River experienced a sudden flood that washed away the bridge’s approach roads at both ends and three southern spans of the main bridge. After the flood, Wu Peifu ordered the repair of the northern approach road and constructed an earthen slope at the southern end to maintain temporary traffic. By the 26th year of the Republic of China (1937), after the construction of the Lin Sen Bridge downstream on the Luohe River, this bridge was abandoned, leaving 20 spans of the ruined bridge remaining. In July 1980, to facilitate flood discharge, the nine remaining spans at both ends were demolished, leaving 11 central spans. In 1997, due to the construction of the Luopu Park along the Luohe River, only three of the 11 remaining spans are still extant. (Contributed by the Cultural Relics Preservation Office of the Han-Wei Ancient City at Baima Temple, Luoyang City: Photo by Wang Liping, text by Chen Jianjun)

Category: Important Modern Historical Sites and Representative Architecture

Era: 1922

Address: South of Dongxiachi Village, Luobei Township, Xigong District