China's 900-year-old wood arch bridge collapsed in fire

 

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 China's 900-year-old wood arch bridge known as the Wan'an bridge built in the Song Dynasty (960-1127) in Pingnan county, East China's Fujian Province, has been marred by fire on Saturday night, leading to the collapse of the longest wood arch bridge in China. No casualties were reported in the fire.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation. The Criminal Investigation Department of the Pingnan County Public Security Bureau has stepped in for the case's further inquiry.

Although the open fires of the bridge had been putted out in around 10 hours, the 900-year-old wood bridge's body has been burnt to collapse during the first 20 minutes of fire.
Its unique wooden structure made it even more susceptible to damage by the fire.

It holds significant cultural value as it shows ancient Chinese mastered wisdom and ingenuities on wooden architecture designs, especially when the wooden arch bridge prototype in a length like such was extremely difficult to manifest.