The northern half of Shanghai's century-old Waibaidu Bridge was moved atop a barge this morning for renovation work.

As the tide rose to the expected level at 12:10pm today, a 1,000-ton barge jacked-up the northern half of the bridge, adjusted its position and slowly moved it out into the Huangpu River towards the shipyard.

The other half of the span was moved in the same manner yesterday.

The bridge was closed last month and was divided into two sections that weighed about 850 tons each.

The steel-truss bridge will undergo renovations at Shanghai Shipyard. It is expected to be restored to its original position across Suzhou Creek by March 1, 2009.

The renovation work will also make way for the construction of a huge two-level vehicle tunnel called the "Bund Passage" below the Bund, or Zhongshan Road E1, to alleviate traffic congestion.

The two-span Waibaidu Bridge, also known as Garden Bridge, was built in 1907 and is regarded as a heritage structure because of its architecture, landscaping and historical significance.

Since the 1940s, it has undergone four major repairs and reinforcements, including most recently in 1999. Despite its 100 years of use, the bridge recently passed a quality test that showed it would have been safe to use for at least another 30 years without this major face-lift.

(Shanghai Daily April 7, 2008)