Longteng Broken Bridge 龍騰斷橋

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Longteng Bridge in Sanyi township of Miaoli County is a popular Japanese era bridge that has fallen and been destroyed by numerous earthquakes. The bridge can be reached by road or by rail from Sheng Hsing train station, and is a popular tourist spot in the area. 

Background:
This bridge was built by the Japanese in 1906. In 1935 the bridge was damaged by an earthquake to the point of being unusable. Another bridge was built soon after just a few meters to the side. In 1991, another earthquake further damaged to bridge to what remains now. Now the remains of the bridge serve as a memorial park for earthquakes in Taiwan. 

Hours:
24/7

Price:
Free

How to get there:
By little tourist train: You can take the little tourist train from Shenghsing Station to the parking lot at Longteng Bridge. 
By TRA: Take the TRA to Sanyi train station, then take a taxi to the old bridge (20 min, 10KM).
By car/scooter: Take Jianfeng Road in Miaoli to Longxi Raod, and then follow it until you reach the old bridge. There is a free parking lot and ample parking by the roadside. 

Map:
Please see below:

Our Journey:
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We have been to Longteng Bridge once, and we were very impressed. It is a unique destination in Taiwan and one of the many disaster tourism destinations on the island. 

See above for our drone footage of the old bridge.

When I visited in early 2019, there was still some construction going on near the parking lot; it looked like they were making a train station style visitors center. There is ample parking near the bridge. 

It didn't take us long to realize that many people were small train cars coming from Sheng-Hsing station to Longteng Bridge. Many of the visitors here likely started off at Sheng-Hsing station. 

Another view of the little train tourists. 

Map of the area. 

An unfinished amphitheater near the parking lot. 

Near the parking lot are also a few food stalls. 

First view of Longteng Bridge from the parking lot. 

Side view. 

Another map of the area. 

A large piece of bridge fallen between the piles. 

Another view of the bridge. 

Some historical background on the bridge in Chinese. 

Another view of the bridge. 

Side view of the bridge. 

Pile of broken bricks on the ground. 

You can see some iron screws sticking out of what was once the top of the bridge. 

Another view of the fallen mass. 

More bricks fallen between the bridges. 

Vines hanging down from one of the pillars. 

More vines on another pillar. 

View of the old and newer bridges from above. 

Bushes now cover what was once the top of the bridge. 

Some rails still make their way to the bridge from behind. 

Once you are done looking at the main obvious part of the bridge, don't forget there is another part of the broken bridge on the other side of the river. 

The newer bridge built in 1938 to replace to older brick bridge. It is200 meters tall, making it the tallest iron bridge in Taiwan. 

The small stream that Longteng Bridge once crossed. 

View of one of the ruined piles in the forest. 

Graffiti in the moss on one of the piles. 

One of the piles is covered in nature. 

The rest of the bridge with all arches collapsed. 

Tree growing on the side of one of the pillars. 

Some broken bricks on the forest floor. 

Outline of the broken bridge through the forest. 

Behind the other end of the bridge, the trail keeps going to a restaurant. 

Another view from behind. 

Some concrete piles on behind the bridge. 

Not sure what these were used for. 

If you walk up the hill, you can make your way to the disused part of the old railway. The Sheng-hsing ride ends here. 

View of the old and older bridges. 

View of the bridge from up on the hill. 

Now there is a nice bike path that goes along the old tracks, ending here. 

Another view looking up at the old bridge. This part is the most complete arched section. 

View of one of the old piles. 

Tree overtaking the bridge. 

Split inside one of the piles. 

Another view of the trees overtaking the old bridge. 

View of the trail between the bridge sections. I imagine a large iron trussel connected these two parts of the bridge. 

Cute snail design near the parking lot. 

View of the bridge from the air. 

Looking straight down at the bridge. 

View of the bridge in context. 

View of the bicycle path to the south. 

Sunset over Sanyi. 

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more of our blogs on Miaoli to come. 

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