Tian'anmen bridges under repair for 60th National Day

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-02-19 22:39

BEIJING -- Repair to the Golden Water Bridges in front of Tian'anmen, or the Gate of Heavenly Peace facing Tian'anmen Square in the south, began Wednesday, less than eight months ahead of the 60th founding anniversary of the People's Republic of China.

Repair work on the Jinshui Bridge at the entrance of the Forbidden City starts in Beijing, February 18, 2009. [Xinhua]

The repair work is scheduled to be completed before May 1 and then the bridges will open to visitors, according to the management committee in the Tian'anmen area.

The five parallel bridges, named Jinshuiqiao or the Golden Water Bridges, face correspondingly to five gates of the Tian'anmen Rostrum in the north. To the south of these bridges is the Chang'an Avenue, the main east-west thoroughfare in the heart of Beijing. These bridges span the moat, the Golden Water River, outside the Forbidden City, also known as the imperial palace.

Experts have made an on-the-spot investigation and found that some parts of the white marble bridges have shown signs of wear and weathering. They also found cracks on the guardrail and damages to the bridges by visitors, millions of whom walk across them every year.

The Tian'anmen area management committee worried about the safety of the bridges and visitors, and decided to repair them.

According to the management committee, these bridges will be restored to their original look.

The five bridges are being repaired at different phases so that visitors to the Tian'anmen Rostrum and the Forbidden City will not be affected, according to the People's Daily.

The repair is made in accordance with a plan approved by the Beijing Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage on November 6, 2008.

A public bidding posted on the administration's website said the total budget for the renovation project is 946,400 yuan (about US$139,000).

The five vaulted bridges were initially constructed in 1420 during the the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and were rebuilt in 1690 during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

The bridge in the middle, also the biggest, is 23.15 meters long and 8.55 meters wide. It was only used by emperors for entering and coming out of the Forbidden City in the past.