Chung Riwoche Bridge

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The Chung Riwoche Bridge (also Chung Riwoche Chagsam , Chung Riwoche Bridge ) was a chain bridge over the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet . It was about 100 km upstream from Lhatse . Today there are two modern bridges, a light suspension bridge and a road bridge, some distance below the remains of the Chung Riwoche Chagsam.

The bridge, like Chung Riwoche Kumbum, less than 300 m away, was built in the 15th century by the Tibetan Buddhist philosopher, teacher, doctor, architect, blacksmith and bridge builder Thangtong Gyelpo . It consisted of two mighty stone pillars piled up on the banks of the Tsangpo , which stood in the dry when the water level was low , as well as an equally large pillar in the river, which was protected from the floods by a long, brick breakwater and icebreaker . The spans from the central pillar to the pillars on the bank were 60 m and 35 m. For this bridge, Thangtong Gyelpo used four chains instead of the usual two: two slightly stronger chains that directly supported the footpath and two slightly lighter chains above them that served as handrails and were connected to the lower chains by ropes, so that they also had a supporting function. The chain links of the lower chains were approx. 22 to 26 cm long, those of the upper 23 to 38 cm long and 7 to 8 cm wide. They were forged from rectangular bars with cross sections of approx. 2 cm × 3 cm and 2 cm × 2 cm. Even after more than half a millennium, the chain links show only minor signs of wear and virtually no corrosion .

Peter Aufschnaiter and Heinrich Harrer used the bridge on their flight from India in 1945, when it no longer had a continuous wooden floor and they had to gradually walk from one cross rope to the next. In 2002 the bridge was no longer usable. The ropes between the chains were missing in the last few meters, as the bridge has not been maintained since the new bridges were built.

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Coordinates: 29 ° 11 ′ 40 ″  N , 86 ° 36 ′ 49 ″  E