Waibaidu Bridge

Waibaidu Bridge 外白渡桥
Waibaidu Bridge in 2019
Coordinates	31°14′35″N 121°29′24″E / 31.24306°N 121.49000°E / 31.24306; 121.49000
Carries	Road and pedestrian
Crosses	Suzhou Creek
Locale	Near confluence of Huangpu River and Suzhou Creek, Shanghai, China
Other name(s)	Garden Bridge
Characteristics
Design	camelback truss bridge[1]
Material	Steel
Total length	104.9 metres (344 ft)
Width	18.4 metres (60 ft)
Longest span	52.16 metres (171.1 ft)
No. of spans	2
Piers in water	1
Load limit	20.32 tonnes (20.00 long tons; 22.40 short tons)
Clearance below	3.25 metres (10.7 ft) highest tide; 5.57 metres (18.3 ft) lowest tide
History
Designer	Howarth Erskine Ltd
Constructed by	Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company
Construction start	4 August 1906[1]
Construction end	29 December 1907[2]
Opened	20 January 1908
Location

The Waibaidu Bridge (Chinese: 外白渡桥; pinyin: Wàibáidù Qiáo; Shanghainese: Ngabahdu Jio), called the Garden Bridge in English, is the first all-steel bridge,^[3] and the only surviving example of a camelback truss bridge, in China. The present bridge is the fourth Western-designed bridge built at its location since 1856, in the downstream of the estuary of the Suzhou Creek (formerly known as Wusong or Soochow Creek), near its confluence with the Huangpu River, adjacent to the Bund in central Shanghai. It connects the Huangpu and Hongkou districts and was opened on 20 January 1908. With its rich history and unique design the Waibaidu Bridge is one of the symbols of Shanghai.^[4] Its modern and industrial image may be regarded as the city's landmark bridge. On 15 February 1994 the Shanghai Municipal Government declared the bridge an example of Heritage Architecture, and one of the outstanding structures in Shanghai.^[5] In an ever-changing metropolis, the Waibaidu Bridge still remains a popular attraction, and one of the few constants in the city skyline.