Spanning over 1400 years: China's remarkable Zhaozhou Bridge.

The 1400-year-old Zhaozhou Bridge in China is celebrated as the largest and oldest open-spandrel stone-arched bridge in the world. Stone arch bridges with perforated spandrels were a major innovation in the history of bridge engineering, reducing structural weight and horizontal loading from flood flows. In this paper, the structural characteristics and construction technology of this remarkable bridge are introduced through an extensive literature survey and field investigations. It also reports on an analysis of the bridge's mechanical properties to provide an explanation as to why the bridge has remained standing for more than 1400 years despite numerous wars, floods and earthquakes. An analytical computational method is employed to analyse the influence of the shoulder arch on the permanent-loaded compression line of the bridge. Finally, two three-dimensional finite-element models are established to simulate the dynamic characteristics of the bridge, and the effect of the shoulder arch on its seismic performance is evaluated by modal analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]