India’s miracle bridges: Living bridges印度奇跡之橋：活根橋

Katie Hunt

印度卡西族的先民創(chuàng)造了不會(huì)腐朽的活根橋。這些橋是用活樹的氣生根人工編制而成的，隨著時(shí)間的推移，成熟的氣生根會(huì)長出新的氣生根，橋也會(huì)變得越來越堅(jiān)固。

In the mountainous state of Meghalayain India lives a truly fascinating phenomenon—living bridges. These suspensionbridges have been cultivated （培育）over many years.

The bridges over rivers are essentialfor local people. They allow people living inthese isolated areas to travel. Without thebridges， access to essential services， medicaltreatment and school education wouldbe extremely difficult. Villagers are alsoable to use the bridges to travel to differentareas to buy and sell products. The bridgesare made from the aerial roots（氣生根）ofliving banyan fig trees， which are thentwisted（扭曲）into shape. In this mountainousnortheastern region， over 100 bridgeshave been created in 70 villages.

Building roads in these regions is notpossible. This is due to the terrain（地形）being mountainous， with dense jungle andwaterfalls making any kind of permanentroad structures impossible. This is wherecreating living bridges， using the naturalresources of the area， is the most practicaloption.

Unlike conventional bridges， the Indianliving bridges grow stronger withtime. When they were first constructed，these bridges only allowed 15 to 20 peopleto cross a day. After many years， the rootshave strengthened， and can hold upwardsof 50 people in one day. Some bridges areestimated to be more than 500 years old.

Khasi people had a practical outlookand created a culture which was unique，sustainable and ecofriendly.Inheriting aculture deeply rooted in the environment，the people developed a living architecturethat was found nowhere else in terms of itsapplication and philosophy.

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