China’s unique woven timber arch bridges

Abstract

Woven timber arch bridges date back over 1000 years in China but were only rediscovered in the 1980s. Combining ‘beam-weaving’ techniques with mortise-and-tenon joints, they provide visually elegant structures with strong mechanical performance. As reported in this paper, the ‘warp and weft’ design has been enjoying a resurgence in recent years, not just for bridges but also in architecture and furniture. The origins, cultural significance and renaissance of woven arch bridges are explored together with their distinctive structural features and construction methods.

Whole timber construction: A state of the art review

“…Numerous examples of architecture by pre-industrial societies worldwide show the variety and ingenuity with which cultures have taken advantage of the inherent structural characteristics of timber in its whole form to create large-scale buildings, bridges, and fortifications. Particularly notable examples are the actively-bent longhouse frames of the Iroquois (Nabokov et al, 1989), the gridshell-like Fale of pre-colonial Samoa and Tonga (Barnes and Green, 2008), the log-type churches of pre-industrial Russia (Brumfield, 1997), and the "woven timber arch" bridges of Song-dynasty China (Figures 1a,1b,and 16d) (Zhou et al, 2018).…”

“…Later, whole timber was used as cost-effective utility poles for rural electrification and telecommunications (Wolfe, 1999) -a practice which continues today. Whole timber has also been used throughout history and to the present Figure 1: 1a: The "Rainbow Bridge" in Bianjing, China, shown depicted in the Song Dynasty painting "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" by Zhang Zeduan (1085 -1145 CE), used a "woven timber arch" of whole timber as its primary structure (Zhou et al, 2018). Public domain image (Zeduan, 1145).…”

“…Public domain image (Zeduan, 1145). 1b: The Xianju Bridge is one of an estimated 100 whole timber woven timber arch bridges remaining in China (Zhou et al, 2018). Photograph by Azrael Green (CC BY-SA 3.0) (Green, 2011).…”