2018 High Bridge Trip Photo Album
2015 China High Bridge Trip Photo Album
Hubei and Hunan Provinces
The 2-week 2015 High Bridge trip was another wild adventure through China's most beautiful mountain provinces of Hubei, Hunan, Guizhou and Yunnan. As in past trips, our guests were mostly retirees from around the globe. Canadian Richard Scott returned for his second high bridge tour having first come along in 2013. Australian bridge engineer John Hart kept up the tradition of an Australian having been on all of my trips while Tadashi Ashimi became the first bridge fan from Japan to visit the high bridges of Western China. Rounding out the entourage was Damian Kulash of the U.S. who has always loved traditional Chinese stone bridges but was interested in experiencing a new type of super span that represent the modern era of Chinese engineering. Our always helpful and knowledgeable translator Han Ruoyu was yet another bright Tongji University bridge engineering student we could rely on.
As in previous high bridge tours, we came across many bridges that were in various stages of construction including the epic Qingshuihe suspension bridge, the soaring Beipanjiang Qinglong Railway arch and the towering Beipanjiang Duge and Yachi cable stayed bridges. Other record breaking spans included the Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Glass Footbridge that was half complete, still waiting for nicer weather before cable spinning could finally begin in the days after our visit.
In Western China the year of 2015 will definitely be remembered as one of seemingly endless rain. This afforded our group of bridge photographers some of the most vivid greenery imaginable during the occasional moments of sunshine. But if the sun was often playing hide and seek we were at least lucky that the rain seemed to arrive only at night or when we were driving to our next bridge.
But if our trek was generally free of any China travel related mishaps, the second week threw us a surprise in the form of a head cold bug that spread around the SUV, first striking John Hart before a final advance on Richard Scott. Despite this discomfort, John and Richard were fighters and never backed away from another day of bridging even if their bodies were telling them to sleep all day in a hotel room.
2015 was also a first for aerial bridge photography as my new DJI Phantom 3 drone captured some stunning aerials before I crashed it while photographing the Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Glass Footbridge. Luckily the damage was not too severe and I was able to get it repaired in China while I continued to travel in the weeks that followed.
As always this trip could not have happened without the driving and navigating skills of longtime driver Chen and another nice SUV that handled hundreds of kilometers of rough roads with no breakdowns. Finally a big thanks to the many bridge construction leaders and workers as well as the local farmers who were always friendly and inquisitive about why we had come halfway around the world to visit their remote town or village.
Look for an even more exciting Chinese adventure in 2017 when we once again visit more than 50 of the world's highest spans including tours of the highest road bridge, railway bridge and footbridge!
The special spans visited during the first week included Longtanhe, Siduhe, Zhongjianhe, Aizhai, Mengdonghe, Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Glass, Wujiang Railway and Wujiang expressway bridges.
The most unusual aspect of the 2015 trip may well have been the very first item on our itinerary - attending an OK Go concert in Shanghai. Bridge fan Damian Kulash Sr. is the father of OK Go lead singer Damian Kulash Jr. and coincidentally the band's show was playing the night before our flight out to Western China. The music videos of OK Go are among the most clever ever created with elaborate choreography that is often done in long takes requiring precise timing with both mechanical props and fellow band mates. The group's breakout video "Here We Go Again" was directed by Damian's dance choreographer daughter Trish Sie making for a family with very artistically creative genes. Check out all there videos on YouTube! Image by Ric Turner.
Image by Ric Turner.
Image by John Hart.
