Anji Bridge (open-spandrel segmental arch)
Puente de Anji (arco rebajado de enjutas abiertas)
- Date
- c. 595-605 · confidence high
- Place
- Zhaoxian, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China
- Credited to
- Li Chun (Sui dynasty)
- Field
- Tools
What it is
A 37 m span stone bridge with a very flat arch and four smaller arches in the spandrels that lighten the load and let floodwater through. It still stands and is the oldest open-spandrel segmental arch bridge in the world.
Europe did not build open-spandrel segmental arches until the 14th century (Ponte Vecchio, Florence, 1345).
What it led to
- long-span segmental arch bridges
- material savings and resistance to floods