Shanghai, China's Bridges: Nan Bei Elevated Highway

The span of the Nan Bei (South North) Elevated Highway that crosses over Suzhou Creek is as wide as it is long. Instead of carrying utility lines under the deck, a water main and other utilities are carried on tubular steel tied arches on each side of the bridge. This portion of the elevated highway is a continuous, reinforced concrete girder bridge over Suzhou Creek.

The Nan Bei Elevated Highway creates a boundary between old and new Shanghai, between the upper and lower Suzhou Creek, and between the downtown and midtown areas. Elevated highways act as a boundary between the rich and poor, they're noisy (especially without soundwalls), and they block one's view. However, they are probably optimal in high rise neighborhoods.

Shanghai, China's Bridges: Nan Bei Elevated Highway by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.