Longteng Bridge
abandoned bridge in Miaoli County
The Longteng Bridge (traditional Chinese: 龍騰斷橋; simplified Chinese: 龙腾断桥; pinyin: Lóngténg Duànqiáo; Wade–Giles: Lung2-T'êng2 Tuan4-Ch'iao2), officially known as the Yutengping Bridge (魚藤坪斷橋; Yúténg-píng Duànqiáo), is a former bridge in Longteng Village, Sanyi Township, Miaoli County, Taiwan.
History
The bridge was built in 1906 during Japanese rule, and was named Gyotōhei kyō (魚藤坪橋). It was designed by the American civil engineers Theodore Cooper and C.C. Schneider for the colonial government. Both the bridge and nearby village (modern-day Longteng) were named Gyotōhei (魚藤坪) after a local plant Millettia pachycarpa (Chinese: 魚藤; pinyin: yúténg; Japanese pronunciation: gyotō) believed to be poisonous to fish; legends believed that a malevolent carp in a nearby lake was responsible for misfortune, and residents planted the shrub to counter the carp. The original design consists of a central steel truss flanked by multiple brick masonry arch approaches.
The April 1935 Shinchiku-Taichū earthquake and subsequent aftershocks in July damaged the bridge beyond repair. Several masonry arches were cracked and the north and south ends of the truss became misaligned. A new iron bridge was built in 1938, 80 meters to the west of Longteng Bridge, and the central truss was dismantled once the new bridge opened. Longteng of the bridge's common name is from the name of Longteng Village and gained use after the Japanese handover of Taiwan.
The 1999 921 earthquake caused one of the remaining piers to collapse and as a result, the county government decided to rededicate the bridge's remains as a monument to the two deadliest earthquakes in Taiwan's history.
The public source identifies “Longteng Bridge” as abandoned bridge in Miaoli County. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Longteng, Bridge and abandoned.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Longteng Bridge”, the useful work is to connect “abandoned bridge in Miaoli County” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Nov 28, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q11172498. Authority coordinates are 24.358, 120.774. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1906, 1935, 1938 and 1999.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
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Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Longteng Bridge”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Longteng Bridge primary sources, Longteng Bridge archive and Longteng research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Longteng Bridge” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.