Shouchang Bridge

Shouchang Bridge

Shouchang bridge is located on Shangzhu River, Erdu village, Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province. It is a single arch bridge with arc edge, with a total length of more than 40 meters, a height of 8.10 meters, a clear span of 17.4 meters and a rise height of 7.16 meters. According to documents, the bridge was built in the Xianchun period of the Southern Song Dynasty, with a history of more than 700 years. The bridge has scientific structure, beautiful shape, simple decoration and good preservation. It is the largest and best preserved single hole stone arch bridge of Song Dynasty found in Hangzhou, Jiahu and Yangtze River Delta. The stone material of the whole bridge is from the local famous "Wukang stone". The purple brown ivy of the bridge body twines like Changhong drinking stream, which has high value of cultural relics and ancient buildings. Shouchangqiao well preserved the original appearance of history

summary

Shouchang Bridge

Announcement time: May 25, 2006 shouchang bridge, also known as Shangzhu bridge, is located in Erdu Wayao natural village, Deqing County. Yao Zhijian, a native of xianchunjian county (1265-1274) in the Southern Song Dynasty. Shouchang bridge, spanning Shangzhu River, is a single span stone arch bridge. It is 35.2 meters long, 2.8 meters wide and 17.2 meters in arch span. It is equipped with xumizuo type stone railings with lotus petal pattern pillar in between. It is paved with vertical strips on both sides. The pier is built with a diamond wall of rectangular stone. It is the most complete ancient bridge preserved in Deqing County. Now it is a provincial cultural relic protection unit.

According to the annals of Wukang County written by Jiajing of Ming Dynasty, "shouchang bridge, a Shangzhu bridge, is 18 Li southeast of Wukang county. Yao Zhijian, a native of Xianchun, Song Dynasty Due to the disappearance of the inscription on the bridge, there is no more detailed record in the historical books, and the exact chronology and previous maintenance of shouchang bridge are unknown. However, judging from the shape, material, style and decoration of the bridge, shouchang bridge is basically similar to the Song Dynasty bridges in Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, and it is more completely preserved. It is an important material material for the study of stone arch bridges in Song Dynasty. Zhao Mengfu passed the bridge, Hong Sheng passed it, and Jiang Kui lived by the bridge. It can be said that the bridge is thriving with people.

Art

Shouchang bridge is one of the stone arch bridges with the characteristics of the times. Its scientific design, beautiful shape and excellent construction, especially the large span of single hole and the method of collecting and dividing are rare in similar bridges. It is a cultural relic protection unit at the provincial level and has been declared as a cultural relic protection unit at the national level. Shouchang bridge was built 130 years later than Yongan bridge. The materials of shouchang bridge are wukangshi from fangfengshan near the bridge. The bridge base is 40m and the clear span of single hole is 17.40m. The valuable point of this bridge is that it adopts superb scoring techniques, such as pier, arch, slope toe, etc. Therefore, shouchang bridge design should be compared with Yongan bridge, Qinghe bridge, etc., has a greater particularity. Although these three bridges are arch bridges, it is not difficult to find that there are some differences in form and construction technology. Shouchangqiao's carving technology fully shows the designer's outstanding intelligence, such as the matching technology of cloud pattern and group drum nail pattern. On the right side of the arch, there is also a beautiful lotus combination pattern, which is the most important feature of the bridge in the song and Yuan Dynasties. The shape of shouchang bridge is like a masterpiece of exquisite handicrafts. It is in sharp contrast with the modern highway bridge beside it, and has become a beautiful scenery in the local area. It is the largest and best preserved single hole stone arch bridge of Song Dynasty found in Hangzhou, Jiahu and even Yangtze River Delta. It has a high value of cultural relics and ancient buildings.

characteristic

Period of existence

There are three different periods, forms and styles of watchposts in the bridge. The "Ruyi stone" (usually the first step of the deck slope) on the South and north sides of the bridge is lower than that on the deck for a long distance. There are obvious differences between the stone quality and masonry methods from the long tie stone to the Ruyi stone wall facade, and there are still arc joints. It can be judged that for more than 700 years, Shouchang bridge has been repaired or modified, especially for the original bridge deck with steep slope and inconvenient walking, the method of extending and raising the approach bridge deck has been used to slow down the slope. Of course, this kind of repair or modification is only the surface or periphery of the bridge, and the main style of the bridge has not changed excessively. Therefore, the style of shouchang bridge in Southern Song Dynasty still exists, so it is precious.

There are many stone arch bridges in Jiangsu and Zhejiang in song and Yuan Dynasties, but few of them are as tall and complete as shouchang bridge. There is no case that the clear span of arch bridge is close to or more than 17.40 meters of shouchang bridge. Therefore, shouchang bridge is the largest existing stone arch bridge of Song Dynasty in the south of the Yangtze River. With its elegant and light shape and invariable strength, it is a masterpiece of similar bridges in Song Dynasty.

shape

Shouchang bridge is single

The arch bridge is a solid arched stone arch bridge with a north-south trend. It is 32.85 meters long, 9.19 meters high, 2.86 meters wide at the top, 3.24 meters wide at the bottom, 7.16 meters high and 17.40 meters clear span. The arch is built in 11 sections (without the potential). The diamond walls on both sides of the bridge body are laid flat with staggered joints. The walls are gradually folded from bottom to top, and the bridge deck is gradually expanded from the inside (the center of the bridge deck) to the outside, which increases the integrity and stability of the bridge and reflects the good mechanical structure principle. A pair of open columns and three pairs of long tie stones are symmetrically arranged on the wall to pull the two sides of the wall together, and the two ends of the long tie stone jump out of the plain curved beam head (commonly known as Aotou stone). The bridge deck is composed of two side stones parallel to the bridge body and stone slabs and steps perpendicular to it. The side stone surface is chiseled with anti-skid convex edge, the outside is engraved with GUI angle pattern, the upper side is set with fence board and pillar, and the two ends are fastened with drum stone. Due to the gentle slope in the middle of the bridge deck, there are no steps, and steps are set on both sides to facilitate up and down. Xumizuo type fence is made of whole stone, with six pairs of square lotus shaped pillar between the fence. Both sides of the bridge center have the name of shouchang bridge written in regular script with double hooks. Under the side stones of the bridge deck, there are strips of relief rutin pattern and Ruyi cirrus pattern (temporarily named "side pad stone"), which are commonly used in bridges in the Song Dynasty in the south of the Yangtze River.

Preservation status

The main body of shouchang bridge is well preserved and the arch structure is relatively stable. However, after more than 700 years of exposure to the sun and rain, coupled with the damage of natural forces and man-made destruction, it can be said that the situation is in danger. In August 2005, Zhejiang ancient architectural design and Research Institute conducted a comprehensive survey of shouchang bridge. It was found that the pile foundation of the abutment of shouchang bridge had been partially hollowed out and some wooden piles were exposed; the masonry of the bridge body had displacement, bulge and fracture; many fence posts were incomplete or missing; the steps of the bridge deck were uneven; the stone of the bridge body was seriously weathered, and the trees and weeds grew in the cracks.

present situation

After more than 700 years of wind and rain, shouchang bridge is full of various plants. The trunk of one old elm tree was as thick as an adult's leg, and it arched the stone slabs of the bridge to pieces. When the construction personnel lifted off the stone slab pressed on the tree, they were surprised to find that the root of the tree was thicker, and part of the root was like a flat board because it grew in the stone crevice.

Shouchang bridge is built of stone on the outside, but filled with earth on the inside. The seeds of plants may have been brought in when the bridge was built, or they may be brought in by people, birds and other animals in the future. Vines and trees grow on the ancient bridge, which makes people feel natural and simple, adding color to the ancient bridge, but it is the killer of the ancient bridge. Plants grow in the stone crevices of the ancient bridge for a long time. It will make the stone move, destroy the mechanical structure of the ancient bridge and cause the bridge collapse. Therefore, in the restoration of ancient bridges, it is a very important work to remove the plants on the bridge.

Cultural relics protection

have a long history

Shouchang bridge was built in Xianchun period of Southern Song Dynasty, with a history of more than 700 years. Shouchang bridge, with scientific structure, beautiful shape, simple decoration and good preservation, is the largest and best preserved single hole stone arch bridge of Song Dynasty found in Hangzhou, Jiahu and even Yangtze River Delta. It is understood that Guangji Bridge, located in Tangqi Town, Yuhang District, Hangzhou, is known as "the first bridge of the Beijing Hangzhou canal". In terms of its scale, shape and reputation, shouchang bridge can not be compared with it. At the same time, shouchangqiao applied for the national key cultural relics protection unit, but it failed. It can be seen that shouchang bridge is indeed very precious.

Cultural and conservation experts explored the bridge foundation of shouchang bridge, built cofferdams at both ends of the river, drained the river water, observed and studied the bridge foundation of shouchang bridge. There are many thick round wooden piles under the bridge foundation of shouchang bridge, some of which are more than 30 cm in diameter, and have not been decayed up to now. The foundation of the bridge, built on wooden piles, is hardly out of shape. This is the main reason why shouchang bridge has not collapsed after more than 700 years of wind and rain. On the whole, shouchang bridge is well preserved, but there are also many missing components, some of which are seriously weathered. According to the laboratory test conducted by the Provincial Institute of geology, the silicon, iron and other components in the stone components of shouchang bridge are lost, and the mechanical strength of the stone components is reduced, which affects the compression and seismic capacity of the bridge to a certain extent.

Protection scheme

Shouchang bridge has been eroded by wind and rain for more than 700 years. It is really rare that it can be preserved to the present condition. However, in order to keep it permanently and completely, the repair work needs to be carried out urgently. After repeated study, they made two schemes of structural protection and anti weathering protection of shouchang bridge. The so-called structural protection is to restore the original appearance of shouchang bridge, mainly to make up the missing components of shouchang bridge, correct the skew cracks and so on. This repair also stipulates that the original components should be used as much as possible, and even if it has been broken into several pieces, it should be spliced and restored. Chemical protection is to extend the service life of the bridge. The surface of the stone components of the bridge is coated with some chemical materials to block weathering.

Address: Shangzhu River, erduwayao natural village, Deqing County, Huzhou City

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Chinese PinYin : Shou Chang Qiao