China has always been a big infrastructure country and has made great achievements in the construction industry. Especially in terms of bridges, from the ancient Zhaozhou Bridge in China to the modern Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, it has demonstrated China's strong bridge-building capabilities. But not only these well-known bridges at home and abroad, but also the whimsical bridge designers in China have also built a lot of bridges that do not take conventional roads. For example, in China's Hunan Province, someone built a bridge shaped like a Chinese knot, which attracted countless people to appreciate and visit, and became a famous scenic spot. But there's another bridge that's even more bizarre, and what's the untold story of it?
The bridge is called the Taojin Bridge and was also built in Hunan Province. From its designer, it is already strange enough. Its designer is a person who is Chinese. Compared with other highly educated professional designers, the designers of The Gold Rush Bridge are obviously very unqualified. But you can't judge the professional ability of others only by academic qualifications, this person named Wu Qiying really shouldn't be underestimated by academic qualifications alone, and the bridge he built is indeed one of the miracles in the history of Chinese bridges. What is so subtle about this bridge?
Built in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the bridge runs through a gorge in Dongkou County, Hunan Province, between the green mountain cliffs on both sides. This bridge was the first self-anchoring suspension bridge in China at that time, and there are few in the world. The bridge was mainly made of steel and concrete, and under the harsh conditions of the time, no more superior material could be found. What's even more amazing is that the piers we see now are basically built downwards on the ground, which can transfer the load of the bridge to the ground, so that the bridge is more robust. But the piers of the Gold Rush Bridge are not built directly on the foundation, but on the cement belt hanging under the bridge, like a semicircle arched downwards, so that foreigners still think that the drawings are reversed. Such a design itself is very strange, but also caused many people to suspect, in the steep canyon, across such a bridge, is the solidity really guaranteed?
Although it looks dangerous, the bridge is actually very strong, and this bridge has greatly facilitated the economic development of the village and the travel of locals for decades. Before the bridge was built, the villagers of Taojin Village had been suffering from the isolation of the canyon and could not connect with Dongkou County. After the establishment of the Taojin Bridge, taojin village really has a stable connection with the outside world, which can be said to be the starting point of the rural revitalization of taojin village.
In these years, the Gold Rush Bridge has passed through countless people and vehicles, has never made a single mistake, and the quality has been tested in the long river of time. In 2018, a more modern bridge was built in Taojin Village, and the Taojin Bridge naturally lost its previous value. However, at this time, the Gold Rush Bridge was considered a dangerous building and lost its right to continue to exist. In 18 years, the local government decided to blow up the bridge, and with the sound of explosives, the bridge finally collapsed in the wheel of history and no longer ran through the canyon.
China's bridge architects have superhuman creativity no matter what the conditions, and can maximize the use of existing resources to do the most things, which is why bridges such as the Gold Rush Bridge have been built.