Xian Ren Qiao (meaning Fairy Bridge) in Guangxi Province,
China, is World's largest natural arch bridge. The bridge has a span of 400
± 15 feet (121.9 ± 4.6 m) and a height of about 230 feet (70
metres). In comparison, the two well known natural arches; namely
Landscape Arch
in Arches National Park, Utah, USA and
Kolob Arch in Zion National Park,
Utah, USA, which were once considered to be longest, have a span of only 290 feet (88.3
metres) and 287 feet (87.5 metres) respectively. The span of Fairy Bridge is at least 110 feet (33.6 metres) longer than its nearest rival.
Google Earth was a key tool in finding of this huge arch
by the World outside China. The arch is in inaccessible area and can only be
reached by raft, with one way trip taking about three hours. Due to its
remote location and difficult accessibility, it remained obscured to outside
World till 2009, when it was noticed in Google Earth by Jay H. Wilbur,
an arch enthusiast, aerospace engineer and founder member of
Natural Arch
and Bridge Society (NABS). His expert eyes saw something in the region which looked
like a large natural bridge. A Panoramio image at the location, by Chinese photographer "ivanytng", confirmed that
the spot which he thought was a natural bridge, was definitely a large natural
bridge spanning a river.
In October 2010, a seven-person international team of NABS visited the
area and made detailed measurements using laser rangefinders.
The studies by NABS' team confirmed beyond any doubt that it was the Largest
Span Natural Arch Bridge in the World. This huge limestone karst arch,
spanning River Buliu, has been classified as
Meander
Natural Bridge.
The Google Earth View which led to discovery of the bridge by Jay Wilbur of
NABS;
[Please click on the image for larger view]
The Panoramio image which confirmed the existence of the huge natural arch.
Image from Panoramio is by
ivanytng
(Permission to use image is thankfully acknowledged)
Image from Panoramio is by
©xfwang
(Permission to use image is awaited)
View location in Google Maps /
Google
Earth
Source of info, more info and images:
Fairy Bridge Web Page
of Natural Arch and Bridge Society. The web site contains detailed information
and several good photographs.
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