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U Bein Bridge ( my, ဦးပိန် တံတား) is a crossing that spans the Taungthaman Lake near
Amarapura Amarapura ( my, အမရပူရ, MLCTS=a. ma. ra. pu ra., , ; also spelt as Ummerapoora) is a former capital of Myanmar, and now a township of Mandalay city. Amarapura is bounded by the Irrawaddy river in the west, Chanmyathazi Township in t ...
in
Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
. The bridge was built around 1850 and is believed to be the oldest and (once) longest
teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panicl ...
wood bridge in the world. Construction began when the capital of
Ava Kingdom The Kingdom of Ava ( my, အင်းဝခေတ်, ) was the dominant kingdom that ruled upper Burma (Myanmar) from 1364 to 1555. Founded in 1365, the kingdom was the successor state to the petty kingdoms of Myinsaing, Pinya and Sagaing th ...
moved to Amarapura, and the bridge is named after Maung Bein who had it built. It is used as an important passageway for the local people and has also become a tourist attraction and therefore a significant source of income for souvenir sellers. It is particularly busy during July and August when the lake is at its highest. The bridge was built from wood reclaimed from the former royal palace in
Inwa Inwa (, or ; also spelled Innwa; formerly known as Ava), located in Mandalay Region, Myanmar, is an ancient imperial capital of successive Burmese kingdoms from the 14th to 19th centuries. Throughout history, it was sacked and rebuilt numerou ...
. It features 1,086 pillars that stretch out of the water, some of which have been replaced with concrete. Though the bridge largely remains intact, there are fears that an increasing number of the pillars are becoming dangerously decayed. Some have become entirely detached from their bases and only remain in place because of the lateral bars holding them together. Damage to these supports have been caused by flooding as well as a fish breeding program introduced into the lake which has caused the water to become stagnant. The Ministry of Culture’s Department of Archaeology, National Museum and Library plans to carry out repairs when plans for the work are finalised. From 1 April 2009, eight police force personnel have been deployed to guard the bridge. Their presence is aimed at reducing anti-social behaviour and preventing criminal activities, with the first arrest coming in September 2013 when two men were reported for harassing tourists.


Construction

The construction was started in 1849 and finished in 1851. Myanmar construction engineers used traditional methods of scaling and measuring to build the bridge. According to historic books about U Bein Bridge, Myanmar engineers made scale by counting the footsteps.


Design and Structure

The bridge was built in curved shape in the middle to resist the assault of wind and water. The main teak posts were hammered into the lake bed seven feet deep. The other ends of the posts were shaped conically to make sure that rain water would fall down easily. The joints of the bridge are intertwined. Originally, there were 984 teak posts supporting the bridge and two approach brick bridges. Later the two approach brick bridges were replaced by wooden approach bridge. There are four wooden pavilions at the same interval along the bridge. By adding posts of two approach bridges and four pavilions, the number of posts amounts to 1089. There are nine passageways in the bridge, where the floors can be lifted to let boats and barges pass. There 482 spans and the length of the bridge is 1,209 metres.


Gallery

File:U Bein Bridge.jpg, 1855 by
Colesworthey Grant Colesworthey Grant (sometimes spelt Colesworthy; 25 October 1813 – 31 May 1880) was an English artist, writer and pioneer activist against cruelty to animals in India. Teaching himself art and sketching, he produced numerous portraits of many ...
File:U Bein Bridge, 1855.jpg, October 1855 File:U Bain Bridge1.JPG, November 2005 File:U Bein, Buddhist monks 2, Mandalay, Myanmar.jpg, 2008 File:U Bein Bridge, Mandalay, Myanmar.jpg, 2008 File:U Bein Bridge - longest teak bridge in the world.jpg, January 2010 File:U bein Bridge.JPG, January 2016 File:Taungthaman Lake at sunset 2, Myanmar.jpg, View over Taungthaman Lake from bridge File:U Pein Bridge Myanmar 04.jpg, Each bridge post is numbered in
Burmese numerals Burmese numerals ( my, မြန်မာ ကိန်းဂဏန်းများ, ) are a set of numerals traditionally used in the , although Arabic numerals are also used. Burmese numerals follow the Hindu–Arabic numeral system commonl ...
File:U Pein Bridge Myanmar 08.jpg, December 2016 File:U Pein Bridge Myanmar 15.jpg, December 2016 File:Men fishing under U Pein Bridge Myanmar 12.jpg, Boys searching for dropped items under the bridge


References

{{commons category Amarapura Bridges in Myanmar Wooden bridges Buildings and structures in Mandalay Region Wooden buildings and structures in Myanmar