趙州橋

張超

Zhaozhou Bridge is the oldest stone arch1 bridge in the world. It was built in Sui Dynasty and has the nickname “King of Bridges”.

趙州橋是世界上最古老的石拱橋，始建于隋朝，有“橋王”之稱。

Zhaozhou Bridge， also known as Anji Bridge， has an important scientific and artistic value. The Zhaozhou Bridge is about 51 meters long with a central span2 of about 37 meters. It stands 7.3 meters tall and has a width of 9.6 meters. It crosses the Xiaohe River， which lies in Zhao County， Hebei Province. It was designed by Li Chun， an outstanding architectural3 constructor in the years 591-599 during the Sui Dynasty， and is famous for its unique construction， with a history of more than 1，400 years.

趙州橋，又名安濟(jì)橋，具有重要的科學(xué)和藝術(shù)價值。趙州橋長約51米，中心跨度約37米，高7.3米，寬9.6米，坐落在河北趙縣的洨河上。它由著名匠師李春設(shè)計(jì)建造，建于隋朝年間的公元591年至599年，以其獨(dú)特的結(jié)構(gòu)聞名，距今已有1400多年的歷史。

There are two small arches on each side of the central， which forms “open-spandrel4 arch bridge”. The small arches have many functions， such as saving materials， reducing the weight of the bridge， lightening the effect of floods and of course the artistic value they bring. The arch upon arch construction is initiative5 as far as the bridge-building history of the world is concerned.

趙州橋中心兩側(cè)各有兩個小拱，形成了“單孔敞肩拱橋”。 小拱有很多功能，比如節(jié)省材料，減輕橋梁重量，減輕洪水的影響，當(dāng)然還具有藝術(shù)價值。在世界建橋史上，趙州橋首創(chuàng)了敞肩拱的新型橋。

It was tested by Mao Yisheng， a 20th century bridge structure expert， to bear up to 8 tons， a capacity6 seldom needed in ancient times. Over 1，400 years， although Zhaozhou Bridge has experienced many tests of earthquake， flood， wind and rain， it is still as strong as ever.

20世紀(jì)橋梁結(jié)構(gòu)專家茅以升曾對其進(jìn)行測試，它可以承受8噸的重量，完全超出了古代的載重需求。1400多年以來，雖經(jīng)受了地震、洪水和風(fēng)雨的考驗(yàn)，趙州橋至今仍和以前一樣堅(jiān)固。

Zhaozhou Bridge not only fully shows the wisdom of us Chinese but is also crowned7 with eternal8 glory for its practical and artistic value at home and abroad.

趙州橋不僅充分體現(xiàn)了我們中國人的智慧，而且因其實(shí)用和藝術(shù)價值而在國內(nèi)外被授予了永恒的榮譽(yù)。