Jiefang Bridge

Jiefang Bridge

Jiefang Bridge is located on the Haihe River between Tianjin railway station (East Station) and Jiefang North Road. It is an all steel openable bridge, built in 1927. The bridge is 97.64m long and 19.5m wide. It is not only one of the landmark buildings in Tianjin, but also a hub bridge connecting Hebei, Hedong and Heping districts and connecting Tianjin railway station area.

Tianjin Jiefang Bridge, also known as Wanguo bridge, commonly known as French bridge and French Russian bridge, is one of the only three openable bridges in Haihe River crossing bridge. It connects shijizhong square in Hebei District and Jiefang North Road in Heping District. It is located on Haihe River between Tianjin railway station and Jiefang North Road. It is an all steel openable bridge, built in 1927. The bridge is 97.64m long and 19.5m wide.

There was an old Longtou bridge near Jiefang Bridge, which was built in 1902 by the Qing government at the request of the French Concession authorities. With the development of urban traffic, a new bridge was built in 1923. After it was officially completed in 1927, the old bridge was demolished in 1928.

Jiefang Bridge, formerly known as Wanguo bridge, means international bridge. It connects laolongtou railway station in the north and zizhulin concession in Nantong. Tianjin at that time had nine concessions, including Britain, France, Russia, the United States, Germany, Japan, Italy, Austria and Belgium. The bridge is located at the entrance of the French Concession and was built under the leadership of the French Concession Industry Bureau, so Tianjin people called it the French bridge at that time. After the victory of the Anti Japanese War, the then national government named this bridge after Chiang Kai Shek, which was called Zhongzheng bridge. In 1949, after the liberation of Tianjin, the bridge was officially renamed "Jiefang Bridge", and it is still in use today.

Architectural history

Jiefang Bridge used to be the most expensive bridge on the Haihe River. When the Wanguo bridge was built, the original project cost was limited to 1 million taels of silver. After the construction started, the cost of the main bridge increased to 1.52 million taels, and the cost of demolishing the old Longtou bridge increased to 390000 taels, totaling 1.9 million taels of silver, making it the most expensive bridge on the Haihe River. Fortunately, the performance is good, so far the traffic is unimpeded, and the name of being expensive is not in vain. Jiefang Bridge is a double leaf vertical rotary open steel structure bridge. The bridge body is divided into three spans, and the middle span is span. The opening span is of double leaf vertical rotation type. A fixed track is attached on the back of the lower chord of the truss near the approach bridge. It is equipped with a gasoline generator, which can generate power to open and close by itself. If you go together, you go by the car; if you go by the boat, you go by the boat. When the bridge is opened, the movable leaf truss moves along the track to make way for greater navigation clearance. "Wan Guo bridge under the ship", once a landscape on the Haihe River.

Due to the serious corrosion of the bridge steel beam and the serious aging of the transmission and power systems, Jiefang Bridge was opened in 2019. On January 18, 2007, after more than eight months of closed construction, the 80 year old Jiefang Bridge was repaired as it was before. It was completely completed and opened to traffic according to its original appearance, and the opening function of the bridge was restored, adding new scenery to the beautiful Haihe River. Many stories and legends have been left on the Jiefang Bridge, including the story of a PLA company conquering the bridge in only 20 minutes, the human tragedy of some people jumping under the bridge to find short-sightedness, and the film and TV series Ma Yongzhen, thunderstorm, battle of Pingjin and the summer blown by the wind. What is most puzzling is that it is not clear who the bridge designer is.

In 1902, the French Concession authorities asked the Qing government to build a bridge near laolongtou station (Tianjin Station) in the lower reaches of Haihe River, which was called laolongtou bridge at that time. In 1902, Tianjin began to build this bridge. The bridge is divided into four holes and adopts variable height continuous steel truss. Due to the development of urban transportation, the new bridge began to be built in 1920s. In 1927, the new Wanguo bridge was built, and then the old bridge was demolished. The new Wanguo bridge was started in 1923 and completed in 1927. The total cost of the project is 1.9 million taels of silver, making it the most expensive bridge on the Haihe River. The bridge has good performance and has been in normal use.

Name change

Jiefang Bridge was first built in 1902, rebuilt in 1923 and officially completed in 1927. The original name is "Wanguo bridge", which means international bridge. In the north is laolongtou railway station (formerly known as Tianjin Station) and Nantong zizhulin concession. Tianjin at that time had nine concessions, namely, Britain, France, Russia, the United States, Germany, Japan, Italy, Austria and Belgium. The bridge is located at the entrance of the French Concession and was built under the leadership of the Ministry of trade of the French concession, so Tianjin people preferred to call it "French bridge" at that time.

After the victory of the Anti Japanese War, the national government named the bridge after Chiang Kai Shek and changed the name of "Wanguo bridge" to "Zhongzheng bridge". In 1949, after the liberation of Tianjin, the bridge was officially renamed "Jiefang Bridge", and it is still in use today.

Historical anecdotes

Refuse the Japanese army to cross the bridge

During the Anti Japanese War, the "wanguoqiao" blocked the Japanese army from crossing the bridge and won precious time for the Chinese army. On July 17, the tenth day after the July 7 Incident in 1937, the Japanese government held a five phase meeting and decided to mobilize 400000 Japanese troops to start the war of aggression against China. At that time, the garrison forces in Tianjin were very weak. Restricted by the Treaty of Xin Chou, Chinese troops were not allowed to be stationed in Tianjin. Although general Zhang Zizhong dispatched some troops to Tianjin in 1935, there were only two brigades and one pistol regiment guarding Tianjin. But it's better to take the initiative to attack than to be beaten passively. At 1:00 a.m. on July 29, 1937, the gunfire of Tianjin Anti Japanese war started in the whole urban area. Japanese barracks, Japanese airport, Tianjin terminal, east railway station (today's Tianjin Station) were all buried in the smoke of gunfire. Japanese reinforcements rushed to the Wanguo bridge along the North Bank of the Haihe River. If the reinforcements cross the WAN Guo bridge, the Chinese Army attacking the east railway station will face the situation of being attacked from both sides, and the offensive will be disintegrated immediately. However, just at this time, the bridge deck above the middle span of Wanguo bridge slowly opened in the sharp alarm, and the French army stationed in the French Concession refused to pass the Japanese army in the name of protecting its own concession. This gave the Chinese Army time to attack the east railway station. Two hours after the fierce battle, the Japanese were expelled from the east railway station. The Chinese Army stationed here not only won the victory of attacking the east railway station, but also dispatched some troops to reinforce the brother troops.

Witness human tragedy:

It is a good thing for shipping, but on the other hand, it is also a bad thing. For example, it is often regarded as an ideal place for suicide. After the completion of the bridge, many poor people were overwhelmed by all kinds of sufferings and jumped to the bridge to die; many gamblers and bankrupt businessmen went to the bridge to plunge into the bottom of the river. The bridge is deep under the water, people jump down and disappear in the twinkling of an eye. It is said that there was once a famous Peking Opera actor who was famous all over the country. He had been acting for many years. He took every move very seriously and never made any mistakes. I don't want to play Wang Zuo, who went to the enemy camp to break his arm and said he would surrender, when performing "eight hammers" in Tianjin. The audience's eyes were sharp and pointed out at the time. The famous actor was so ashamed that he often told people that he wanted to jump on the Wanguo bridge. He also chose Wan Guoqiao, which shows how famous Wan Guoqiao is for suicides. Later, French permanent police on the bridge, not only to protect the safety of the bridge, but also to prevent people from jumping off the bridge.

Witness the liberation of Tianjin

Wan Guoqiao is close to the center of Tianjin. On the north side is Tianjin railway station, an important transportation hub. On the south side is Tianjin middle street, the financial center of the north at that time. It is also the location of important Kuomintang organizations. Before 1949, the Kuomintang garrison built solid fortifications at the end of the bridge and dispatched heavy troops to take the bridge as the last line of defense to guard the south of the city. However, for the PLA troops attacking the city, Wan Guo bridge is the only channel for our army to make detours in the two war zones of Hexi and Hedong. It is also a strategic important place that we must seize. At dawn on January 15, 1949, after a day of fierce fighting, the second regiment of the third division of the first longitudinal division of Dongye of the Chinese people's Liberation Army finally rushed into the urban area, and the South Bank of the coastal river was inserted in front of the Wanguo bridge. The army and the people's party troops stationed at Qiaotou are still struggling. In order to reduce casualties and quickly capture the bridge, our army sent soldiers from one platoon to cross the north bank 200 meters upstream of the Wanguo bridge, preparing to attack the enemy from the north of the bridge, while soldiers from the other two platoons stormed the enemy from the south of the bridge. The bridge was guarded by the troops left behind by the 94th army of the Kuomintang. They were well-equipped, but they knew that the upstream bridge had been lost at that time, and they knew that the general situation was over and the morale of the army was lax. Seeing that the people's Liberation Army was in front of us and was still crossing the river, preparing to encircle its own way, it began to flee. In this way, in just over 20 minutes, with less than one company, the PLA defeated the Kuomintang garrison with a large number of people, advanced weapons and fortifications, and occupied wanguoqiao. In the battle of Wan Guo Qiao, more than 50 people were captured and more than 80 cars were seized. Wan Guoqiao saw the courage of the PLA and witnessed the miracle in the history of the war.

The mystery of designers

Over the years, there has been a popular legend in the society: "this iron bridge with unique style and strong sense of modernity is made by Gustav Eiffel, a French architect and designer of the Eiffel Tower in Paris."? If this exciting "saying" is true, Jiefang Bridge will be worth twice as much. Refer to the relevant information of Jiefang Bridge construction, about the project of that year

Chinese PinYin : Jie Fang Qiao