Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge celebrates its 61st birthday
October 15
For Wuhan people
Today is a special day!
That's right!
Yesterday was the Yangtze River Bridge's birthday!
It is 61 years old!
Yesterday, 61 years ago (October 15, 1957), was an extraordinary day for people across the nation. The first bridge over the mighty Yangtze, the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, was officially completed and opened to traffic amid nationwide anticipation."A bridge flies across north and south, and the deep chasm becomes a thoroughfare", and China's bridge construction and transportation landscape officially opened a new chapter.
Through 61 years of wind and rain, the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge has witnessed the changes of the times and the development of the city. Wuhan people have a special deep affection for this bridge, and there are too many stories worth telling.
If the Yangtze River is the soul of this city
Then the Yangtze River Bridge is the root of Wuhan people
Who is the landmark that best represents Greater Wuhan?
It is said that after several rounds of voting, netizens from the three towns who refuse to yield
Finally shook hands in friendship and reached a consensus:
The landmark that best represents Greater Wuhan -
Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge
Some people say
Couples who walk across the bridge together will not break up;
People in love who walk across the bridge will grow old together;
Those who stroll along the bridge will never quarrel;
Shouting your wishes into the river wind on the bridge will make them come true
......
You who have lived in Wuhan for so long
Have you ever heard of, or experienced
Fragments that belong only to the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge
So, about it
How much do you know?
"Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, alias: The First Bridge over the Mighty Yangtze, total length: 1670 m, opening date: October 15, 1957, design life: 100 years"
1
The Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge is located on the river surface between Snake Hill in Wuchang and Tortoise Hill in Hanyang. It is the first bridge built across the mighty Yangtze in our country and is called"The First Bridge over the Mighty Yangtze". At that time, this bridge, built with the strength of the entire nation, became an important symbol of New China's construction achievements.
The upper level is a highway bridge (National Highway 107), and the lower level is a double-track railway bridge (Beijing-Guangzhou Railway). The bridge body has 8 piers and 9 spans, each span measuring 128 m, and ten-thousand-ton giant ships can pass beneath it!
Today, the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge stands towering and still as elegant as ever.
Looking back, building a Yangtze River bridge was the dream of how many generations: In the late Qing Dynasty, Zhang Zhidong, Governor-General of Huguang, was the first to propose the idea of building a Yangtze River bridge in Hankou; Dr. Sun Yat-sen also had this plan in his "Strategy for National Reconstruction", but ultimately all were shelved...
It was not until September 1955, in the early days of New China, that construction of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge finally began! Manpower and materials supported by the whole country were continuously transported to Wuhan. Engineering and technical personnel from Beijing, skilled workers from Sichuan, auxiliary workers from Henan - people from all corners of the country gathered in Wuhan.
In June 1956,
Chairman Mao inscribed
"A bridge flies across north and south, and the deep chasm becomes a thoroughfare,"
for the Yangtze River Bridge then under construction
depicting a magnificent blueprint.
△August 1956, the first steel girder being erected for the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge
△Spring 1957, Soviet expert Suvorov directing girder assembly
△The Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge under construction, about to be closed (Liao Zhaoqing)
October 15, 1957,
The Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge officially opened to traffic!
The three towns of Wuhan were connected as one,
And the north-south artery, the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway, was opened through.
At that time, the whole city was boiling with excitement, and the whole nation celebrated.
△The grand opening of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge (Liu Jianhua)
△6 lead trucks passing neatly across the bridge
△October 15, 1957, Wuhan crowds celebrating the bridge's opening filled the bridge deck. (Provided by "Hubei Archives")
△At the opening ceremony of the Yangtze River Bridge, Li Surong (first from right) at the time, as one of three student representatives, participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony. In Li Surong's view, that
2
The Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge opened to traffic, but Wang Weimin, then director of the Jianqiao Xincun Police Station in Hanyang, became troubled. He recalled, "Here, we could often hear conversations like this."
"Comrade, we've had a baby. Please register it for us. The name will be 'Jianqiao' [Bridge Builder]."
"Comrade, please choose another name. There are too many with this name."
"Then let's change it to 'Hanqiao' [Han Bridge]."
To give their children a name connected to the word "bridge", parents racked their brains. Besides "Jianqiao" and "Hanqiao", there were also "Jinqiao" [Golden Bridge], "Yinqiao" [Silver Bridge], "Qingqiao" [Green Bridge], "Xinqiao" [New Bridge], and "Xueqiao" [Study Bridge], etc...
Do you also have a Mr. Bridge or Ms. Bridge around you?!
This bridge has an indissoluble bond with Wuhan people
This bridge gave Wuhan people a bridge complex
This bridge gave rise to "bridge culture" in Wuhan
And "taking a stroll across the Yangtze River Bridge"
Is also one of the itineraries for visiting tourists
△In early November 1958, 18-year-old Lei Feng was hired by Anshan Steel. Dressed "fashionably", Lei Feng stood smiling beneath the majestic bridgehead. /
It is said that many Wuhan people
Have a privately treasured photo with the bridge
It is like a quiet playmate by your side from childhood to adulthood
It says very little, yet through the years of growing up
It accompanied everyone living in this city
August 1975
The three sisters Ma Xiaosi, Ma Jun, and Ma Shuang visited Wuhan
(left to right)
They stood by the viewing platform beneath the Wuchang bridgehead
With the Yangtze River and the bridge as the background, they took a group photo
↓↓↓
September 2017
The three sisters revisited the old place and took another photo in the same positions
↓↓↓
The two photos were taken 42 years apart
The people in the photos have aged
But the river still flows on, and the bridge still stands towering
Instead appearing even younger
Making one sigh at the passage of time and the magnificent transformation of Greater Wuhan
Aerial photo of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge in the 1980s 01
The Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge in October 2007 (photo by Chen Jin)
02
June 2015, more than 70 Wuhan university graduates hiked across the Yangtze River Bridge 03
2017, beneath the towering bridge, tourists bustled about
The first snow of 2018, snowmen greeting and seeing off passersby on the Yangtze River Bridge
To see the world's bridge-building, look to China
To see China's bridge-building, look to Wuhan
The Yangtze River Bridge has witnessed historical changes
And is creating Wuhan's future...
Since the completion of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge
"Longest operating time, largest transport volume, largest load capacity"
It is hailed as an eternal monument in China's bridge-building history
In the 60 years since the Yangtze River Bridge was completed
It has withstood the test of 4 floods and 77 collisions!
The heaviest collision was on June 6, 2011
When a ten-thousand-ton oil tanker struck Pier No. 7
And the most recent collision was on September 17, 2015
When a crane vessel grazed Pier No. 5
Leaving an obvious mark on the pier!
But even so, the bridge was not fundamentally damaged
And remains very "healthy"
Truly worthy of the name "Tough Bridge"~
Now, about 300 trains pass over the bridge every day
Averaging one train every 5 minutes
More than 100,000 vehicles cross the bridge daily on average
Averaging 70 vehicles per minute
Originally, the design life of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge was 100 years
Now, it is still in its "prime"
Data shows that to date, all bridges built over the Yangtze, all domestic sea-crossing bridges, and many large and super-large railway bridges through mountain valleys all bear the mark of Wuhan builders,More than 70% of the country's bridges are "made in Wuhan"!
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60 years have passed swiftly, and the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge still stands firm as ever. Behind this is the painstaking effort and sweat of generation after generation. Love deeper than the river, affection longer than the river - they guard the Yangtze River Bridge.
On October 15, 2017, bridge workers on duty at the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, in their spare time, gathered several generations of bridge workers together on the bridge's railway maintenance walkway for a group photo, sharing birthday wishes for the bridge they had lived with day and night for 60 years.
(Images from Hubei Daily Online Donghu Community netizens)
Among the 26 bridge workers of Maintenance Group 2 of the Yangtze River Bridge Workshop of the Wuhan Bridge Section of Wuhan Railway Bureau, 12 are descendants of bridge maintainers! Their grandfathers were the first generation of bridge maintainers who participated in the construction of the Yangtze River Bridge, their fathers "relayed" to become the second generation, and they themselves became the third generation of bridge maintainers.
For more than 60 years
Batch after batch of bridge-guarding soldiers have been stationed at the foot of Tortoise Hill and Snake Hill
Growing together with the bridge year after year
"Love is deeper than the river, affection longer than the river; we guard the Yangtze River Bridge, through how much wind and rain, how much heat and cold, sincerity is engraved upon our faces..."This is the squadron song of the bridge guards, a true portrait of their lives, and the voice of their hearts.
In every turn and transformation of the city of Wuhan
the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge has never been absent
With its backbone-like strength
it carries this city as it blooms with new glory every day!
(The image of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge on the 20-cent note of the third series of the renminbi △)
△Poster "The Wish to Build the Bridge Has Finally Come True"
△In 1957, to celebrate the completion of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, the Bridge Engineering Bureau of the Ministry of Railways, the Wuhan Bridge Engineering Bureau, and the Survey and Design Institute of the Ministry of Railways jointly issued a set of commemorative medals for the completion of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge. The medals are made of copper.
May 3, 2013
The Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge was listed as a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level
September 2016
The Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge was included in
the "First Batch of China's 20th-Century Architectural Heritage" list
Today
"Wuhan" and "the Bridge" have naturally merged into one
A bridge engraves the memory of a city
In the hearts of older Wuhan natives
the Yangtze River Bridge is an endless recollection of home and native land
That love for the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge
has long been carved into the very bones of Wuhan people, inseparable!
T O D A Y ' S T O P I C
Do you have any stories about the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge?
Come share them with us in the comments!