Features
Tuesday, 09 February 2010 08:02
Written by Emma Chi

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Meet the man who connected Puxi to Pudong

Back in the 90s, Lin Yuanpei was the go-to person for a bridge over the Huangpu. The Shanghainese architect designed all four bridges connecting Puxi to Pudong, starting with the Nanpu in 1991, followed by the Yangpu in 1993, the Xupu in 1996 and finally the Lupu in 2002. Now retired to the second line of duty and working as a consultant, Mr. Lin reflects upon his masterpieces, which connect old Shanghai to new.

Do you have a favorite among your four Shanghai bridges?
I love all of them, like sons of mine. The first three are all cable-stayed bridges, while the Lupu is an arch bridge, which has the extra advantage of aesthetics; it looks more elegant.

Why the change to an arch bridge for the Lupu?
When it came to this fourth bridge, I started to question myself: ‘Do we need another cable-stayed bridge?’ The distance of the Lupu is 550 meters compared with the Yangpu's 600 meters, so from a technical perspective there was no problem to build another one. The first three bridges were cable-stayed because they are economic. But China was beginning to prosper at the end of the 90s, so I began thinking more about aesthetics. It's like buying a dress in a department store. In the old days, we focused on warm, functional and long-lasting clothes. But now we won't necessarily buy the cheapest, because our living standards have improved, so we begin to think about better-looking clothes.

Full gallery of his four bridges after the jump

Why did you incorporate a sightseeing element into the design of the Lupu Bridge?
I took this into account at the beginning. The Sydney Harbour Bridge has this function, so if Sydney can do this, why couldn’t we? Adding it was easy. Taking a view on the Lupu Bridge is great, and I feel honored that the World Expo will take place between the Lupu and Nanpu bridges, so it will be wonderful to see it from the Lupu.

The spiral bridge approach to the Nanpu in Puxi is considered a wonder in bridge construction. Did you set out to create a wonder?
It’s not a wonder... only laymen see it as a wonder. We’re in Shanghai; the cost of land is really expensive. We needed to keep to a low budget. Spiraling uses less land. Otherwise, it would expand to the Shanghai Big World (Shanghai Dà Shìjiè) on Xizang Nan Lu, which would have been way too much.

Construction is underway on a longer arch bridge in Dubai that will overtake the Lupu in the No. 1 spot. Is this one-upmanship standard practice in the bridge-building world?
It’s normal. No wonder there is an old Chinese saying: ‘Just as the waves of the Yangtze River behind drive on those ahead, so does each new generation replace the old one.’

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