The History of Kunming–Haiphong railway, the Faux Namti Bridge.

Faux Namti Bridge

Engineering facts:

Size of the bridge: the Faux Namti Bridge was built in 1908 by a French Company named French Batignolles Construction Company (Société de Construction des Batignolles). Paul Bodin was the designer of this bridge.The bridge's total length from end to end is 67.2 m (220 ft). Width are 4.2 m. The total weight of the bridge is 179.5 tons and the height of the bridge from the bottom of the valley is 102m. The Faux Namti Bridge is a typical Deck Arch Bridge. The bridge comprises an arch where the deck is completely above the arch. More than 800 Chinese workers died during the construction. The bridge is part of the IndoChina-Yunnan Railway. By the time it was complete, initial cost estimates for the railway had been revised from the equivalent of 19.2 million USD to 33.1 million USD.

Paul Bodin, the designer of the Faux Namti Bridge

Bridge Type and Science

Faux Namti Bridge is Deck Arch Bridge which has an arch below the Deck to support the whole structure. It also supported by Three Hinged Metal Arch which is geometrically unchangeable statically determinate structure which consists of two curvilinear members which are connected together by means of a hinge, with two-hinged supports resting on the abutment. As shown Below, the three hinged arch is very stable because of its triangular shape supporting force. Also, when the forces are coming from the top of the bridge the bottom hinge can separate the force horizontally and vertically. Compare with two hinged arch and fixed arch structure, the three hinged arch structures are easier to build and inexpensive. 

Faux Namti Bridge is consisting of two triangular trusses arranged similarly to the leaves of a bascule bridge.  Trusses A “truss” is formed when structural members are joined together in triangular configurations. The truss is one of the basic types of structural frames formed from structural members. A truss consists of a group of ties and struts designed and connected to form a structure that acts as a large span beam.

History of the Faux Namti Bridge and the significance behind it

The Faux Namti Bridge is  part of the IndoChina-Yunnan Railway. It allows us to peak into those blood and sweat ages of China. In the beginning of the 20th century, China is far behind the world which attract several foregin countries to plunder it huge potential economic market. In 1885, China signed the “Treaty of Vietnam” with France, which is one of many treaties that China signed at that time. The treaty forced the Qing Government to build a railroad that connect Yunnan to the outside world. The Article 7 stated that : “France will develop the roads in Tonkin(northern Vietnam) and encouraged to build the railway. Two sides agree that roads needs to consult with French business practitioners if it intends to construct the railway in the future.” The hidden motive is that France wants to break into China from the “backdoor” (south) and building a railroad was the most convenient and efficient way for them to transport their troops and military equipment.  

People were forced to build the railroad and except 20thsounds Vanmims over three hundred thousand workers from different parts of China contribute their blood and sweat to IndoChina-Yunnan Railway. Workers who died during the construction were buried right next to the railroads.Those dead bodies became part of the railroad. Chinese people didn’t like the idea of  railroad back in the days, but they were forced to build it under the treaty. Because of the complicated geographic situation, many railroad workers died. On the one hand, the construction of IndoChina-Yunnan Railway is a shame in the modern Chinese history. On the other hand, the project conquered many technological issues and brought improvement to the railroad such as Faux Namti Bridge, which is a milestone in the civil engineering.