Yanxigou Bridge
Yanxigou Bridge
Chinesename
Pengshui, Chongqing, China
(650) feet high / (198) meters high
492 foot span / 150 meter span
2009
Yanxigou is a short but spectacular prestressed concrete beam bridge that jumps over a deep gash with walls so steep there is little room for foliage to grow. Scheduled to open in 2009, the Yanxigou is one of two high bridges on the new Seexpressway, a 4-lane highway that will connect the city and municipality of Chongqing with Hunan Province. Roughly following the path of the Wujiang river, the route is one more “spoke” in a hub of highways that radiate out from Chongqing - the largest inland river port and Western China’s most populous city.
The Yanxigou bridge is located near its higher and larger gorge-busting brother the Ganxigou. The 3-span prestressed concrete beam bridge has a central span of 492 feet (150 mtrs) and a total length of 1,017 feet (310 mtrs).
The Wu river is one of the world’s greatest high bridge waterways with 3 bridges over 500 feet (152 mtrs) in height crossing it in different areas before it finally empties into the Yangtze river at the city of Fuling. The first came in 1995 when the 840 foot (256 mtr) high Jiangjiehe arch bridge opened near Weng’an. In 2001, the Liuguanghe bridge opened across the Wujiang’s upper reaches near Guiyang with a 975 foot (297 mtrs) high deck that is still the world’s highest among beam bridges. In 2008 a massive concrete beam bridge viaduct opened at the city of Wujiang. The total bridge count reaches 5 if you include the Ganxigou and Yanxigou bridges located on tributaries just off the Wujiang. Only the Beipanjiang river has a more spectacular group of high river crossings in China.
Image by www.cwqb.com.cn
