Luoyang Bridge, the bridge with oyster-reinforced piers!

Luoyang Bridge spans the Luoyang River. It is ancient and majestic, with an extraordinary aura. Due to human control or the ebb and flow of the tide, there is no large water surface under the bridge, only endless mudflats and crisscrossing ditches. Standing on the bridge and looking down, the water in the ditches is rushing, and egrets and a few unknown large birds stand by the ditches, patiently waiting for prey to appear. When the tide recedes, a few small fishing boats are stranded on the flat and undulating mudflats, which is very interesting. On the lower river ditches, there are neatly placed stone slabs facing each other, covered with oysters. Not far away, women are busy on the mudflats and beside the bridge piers. The thousand-year-old bridge is full of vitality! It is said that Luoyang Bridge connects the river and the sea, and the construction process was extremely difficult. The bridge builders created a new type of pier - a raft foundation. They first threw a large number of stones into the river along the central axis of the bridge, then extended a certain width to form a low stone dike connecting the riverbed, and then built a boat-shaped pier on it. Oysters were used to reinforce the piers. The stones thrown down were very scattered, with poor connectivity and uneven gaps between the stones, making the piers unstable. Oysters are common soft-shelled mollusks in the area, with strong attachment and reproductive abilities. By using the characteristics of oysters, the originally loose stone dike was cemented into a solid whole, playing a role in reinforcing the foundation. Luoyang Bridge in Quanzhou is built at the junction of the river and the sea, and oysters are used to reinforce the piers!