Luoyang Bridge

Luoyang Bridge, the oldest Chinese cross-sea stone bridge in existence, is located over Luoyang River in the east suburb of Quanzhou City, Fujian Province. It is considered to be the starting point of the world raft-foundation bridges. Luoyang was built by Cai Xiang in 1053, an official of the North Song Dynasty. It took 7 years for Cai Xiang to finish the bridge. At that time, the current of Luoyang River was deep and strong. The clever workmen created a new kind of bridge base: raft foundation, which was widely used till modern history. The workmen threw a great number of stones into the river along the central axis of the bridge. The stones formed a low stone bank in the river. Then boat-shaped bridge piers were built on the bank. The workmen placed massive stone slabs which weigh several tons on the piers with the help of strong waves. To cement the bank and piers together, they ingeniously raised a lot of oysters in the water under the bridge, which was quite creative and functional.

According to historical records, the bridge was longer than 1.2 km and wider than 5 meters when it was newly built. With a history of more than 900 years, the bridge was restored for dozens of times. It was severely damaged in the War of Resistance against Japan. Between 1993 and 1996, the government earmarked funds to restore the ancient bridge. Now, it is 729.29 meters long, 4.5 meters wide and 7.3 meters high. It has 44 boat-shaped bridge piers, 645 handrails, 104 stone lions, 1 stone pavilion, and 7 stone towers. It is now under state-level protection.