A vital Xinjiekou overpass is set to return with a nice makeover; the bridge will be reconstructed Chinese style.
March last year saw the demolition of the Hongwu Lu bridge, and now workers have confirmed reconstruction is on track for completion before Spring Festival.
If you have been in Nanjing a while, you should remember the four overpasses in Xinjiekou which connected commercial blocks and assisted pedestrians in getting to and from these areas.
Since 2001, three of the bridges have been demolished and replaced with less scenic underground passages. Built in 1994, the Hongwu Lu bridge closed four times for repairs and was finally demolished last year, with the decision being made this year to rebuild it Chinese style.
As construction has got underway, as one can imagine, it has actually made it more difficult for pedestrians wondering around the area. However, the construction department remains confident that its side effects are limited and that the overpass will be completed in one month.
The bridge is said to include cover for the rain, lighting at night and is to be roughly one metre higher than its predecessor. The bridge is to be tall enough that it will also have two escalators, one on either side, to assist those with impaired mobility.
Nanjing’s first overpass was built in 1984 in Xinjiekou’s Huaihai Lu, with 40 other bridges springing up around the city over the following 20 years. When Nanjing’s metro system opened and adjoining underground thoroughfares were built, many pedestrian bridges were dismantled.
However, these bridges of the past will always exist in the memories of old Nanjing; with the completion of Hongwu Lu’s beautiful Chinese style overpass, one can begin to crawl out from under the ground and marvel at the beauty of Nanjing from above.
