Taipei Bridge

Taipei Bridge is a motor-vehicle bridge across the Tamsui River connecting Taipei with Sanchong District, New Taipei City in Taiwan. A central span carries automobile and some motorcycle traffic while narrower spans on either side carry most motorcycle traffic along with bicycle pedestrian traffic.

The central bridge is 481.6 meters in length. Taipei Bridge crosses the Tamsui River at its most narrow point. The first bridge at the current location of Taipei Bridge was begun in 1887 and completed in 1889 at the behest of the Qing Empire Governor-General of Taiwan, Liu Mingchuan. The bridge, known as the Tamsui Wood Bridge, was a 1498-chi wooden structure designed to carry only rail traffic and was part of a larger Keelung to Hsinchu railroad.

Foot and horse traffic could also cross on paths on either side of the rail. However, the bridge's wood pilings required frequent repair due to periodic flooding and an August 1897 typhoon seriously damaged the bridge. The Governor-General of Taiwan's office of the Japanese, which had taken control of Taiwan from the Qing, decided to reroute the railway to the south through Pankio (Banqiao). In 1899, the railway was removed and the bridge was renovated for other vehicular access.