Phuntsoling Bridge
The Phuntsoling Bridge (also Phuntsoling Chagsam , Phuntsoling Bridge ) was a chain bridge over the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet . It was about 50 km below Lhatse and below the Phuntsoling monastery, about 1 km away on a mountain slope. Today there is a steel cable suspension bridge a few meters above and a modern road bridge almost four hundred meters downstream.
According to tradition , the bridge built in the 15th century by the Tibetan Buddhist philosopher, teacher, doctor, architect, blacksmith and bridge builder Thangtong Gyelpo consisted of two mighty stone pillars piled up on the banks of the Tsangpo at a distance of about 90 m Standing drying. Two further, smaller pillars stood at a distance of around 30 m behind the large pillars. Two heavy iron chains were stretched over the large stone pillars and anchored to the smaller ones. Between the chains hung a network of ropes, in which boards serving as a walkway were laid lengthways. The chains also served as a handrail. They consisted of 25 to 28 cm long and 7 to 8 cm wide chain links, which were forged from rectangular bars with a cross section of approx. 1.8 cm × 2.5 cm. Even after more than half a millennium, the chain links showed only minor signs of wear and virtually no corrosion.
When Sven Hedin passed the place in 1907, the bridge had not been accessible for three years. However, it must have been used again later, as the previous rope network had been replaced by wire ropes to secure the planks. In 2001 it was almost completely preserved, even if it was no longer usable, but a year later the chains were in the river bed. Today only the pillars can be seen.
Web links
- Manfred Gerner: Chakzampa Thangtong Gyalpo - Architect, Philosopher and Iron Chain Bridge Builder translated from German by Gregor Verhufen. The Center for Bhutan Studies, Thimphu, Bhutan, 2007. ISBN 99936-14-39-4 . P. 74–76 (with photo)
See also
Coordinates: 29 ° 22 ′ 36 " N , 88 ° 0 ′ 16.4" E