Although not as long as the Kobe’s Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, nor nearly as busy as New York’s Brooklyn Bridge, nor chanted as much as the London Bridge, the Zhaozhou Bridge in Zhao County, Hebei Province has found its name listed next the to most famous bridges for its architectural design and has certainly withstood the test of time.

The Zhaozhou Bridge is the oldest stone arch bridge in China and the oldest of its kind in the world. The bridge, designed by Li Chun, was constructed between 595 and 605 A.D. in the time of the Sui Dynasty. Connecting the banks of the Jiao River, the bridge stretches 167 feet in length, 30 feet wide, and 24 feet high. It has endured ten major floods, lived through eight battles, and survived numerous earthquakes. In fact, it was not widely taken notice of among the world experts until 1966 when an earthquake 40 miles away from the bridge, measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale, shook the village causing severe structural damages nearby, but left the structure itself unmoved.

There are two smaller arches on each end of the superstructure, serving as extra drainage during flooding seasons, and making the bridge not only lighter, but saving a great amount of construction material – an estimate of 700 tons of stone. Its low profile was designed to make it easier for people and horse carriages to traverse. It is comprised of 28 thin, curved limestone slabs, and is decorated with lively dragons and mythical creatures carved alongside the bridge.

Still quite amazing and an unsolved puzzle to modern experts for the ability to calculate with the precision in such a remote age, both ends of the bridge have each sunk no more than five centimeters over the past 1,400 years.

In 1991, the American Society of Civil Engineers recognized the Zhaozhou Bridge as one of the 12 world wonders of historical civil engineering.