What types of ancient bridges are there in China?

There are various structural forms of bridges in ancient China. Based on the analysis of the load-bearing conditions of the structure and the stress properties of the rods, all bridges are divided into three major types - cable bridges, beam bridges, and arch bridges.

Cable bridges, no matter what kind of cable material the upper structure is made of, and no matter what form the lower structure is, they are all cable bridges, referred to as cable bridges.

Due to the different materials used in the cables, ancient Chinese cable bridges were divided into iron cable bridges, bamboo cable bridges and rattan cable bridges.

Beam bridge, as its name implies, is dominated by "beams" as the main stress-bearing component of the superstructure.

Ancient beam bridges include wooden beam bridges and stone beam bridges, and their longitudinal beams are all simply supported beams.

Arch bridge, the superstructure of this type of bridge, the main component that bears the load is the "arch". Since the "arch" structure is designated as a type, it is called an arch bridge.