Today I came across this video of the most wonderful wooden bridges in China and wanted to share. This is some of the most wonderful woodworking I have seen for a long time.
It reminded me of some wooden bridges I first saw on a trip round Europe 25 years ago. I revisited them this year whilst on a motorbike tour of Europe. Here they are built in the 15th century, one section is a suspension bridge built around a laminated arch and the other a lattice construction if you are ever in Switzerland I would recommend a visit to Luzerne to see them.
Well found! An excellent video. I guess wooden bridges were covered to protect them from the weather. Rather puzzling why we don't seem to have any in the UK, hardly even any wooden bridges of any size. All the wooden swing bridges over the Leeds Liverpool canal have been replaced with metal ones. I just know of one bridge which is privately owned and has a 40p toll to pay at Aldwark near York. Drat, on checking I find this is actiually of metal construction with wooden decking!
Very interesting video. The initial straw models eminded me of simple friction held bridges we used to make when I was a scout. I'll be watching out for Robin's next bridge with interest!
Thank you Robin for an inspirational blog. Peter