Traditional construction technology of China timber arch bridges

抄録

China timber arch bridge is a special bridge type, in which the arch ring is woven from two polygonal arch systems. There are more than 100 such bridges survived in Fujian and Zhejiang Provinces. Its traditional construction technology handed down from ancient to today generation by generation through oral teaching has been listed in the Urgent Safeguarding List of Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in 2009 because it is now at a risk of disappearing. To record down the technique is one of the key issues to preserve the intangible cultural heritage. This paper gives the general description of China timber arch bridges and discusses their traditional construction technology.