Repair to the Golden Water Bridges in front of Tian'anmen, or the Gate of Heavenly Peace facing Tian'anmen Square in the south, began Wednesday, less than eight months ahead of the 60th founding anniversary of the People's Republic of China.
The repair work is scheduled to be completed before May 1 and then the bridges will open to visitors, according to the management committee in the Tian'anmen area.
The five parallel bridges, named Jinshuiqiao or the Golden Water Bridges, face correspondingly to five gates of the Tian'anmen Rostrum in the north. To the south of these bridges is the Chang'an Avenue, the main east-west thoroughfare in the heart of Beijing. These bridges span the moat, the Golden Water River, outside the Forbidden City, also known as the imperial palace.
Experts have made an on-the-spot investigation and found that some parts of the white marble bridges have shown signs of wear and weathering. They also found cracks on the guardrail and damages to the bridges by visitors- millions of whom walk across them every year.
The Tian'anmen area management committee worried about the safety of the bridges and visitors, and decided to repair them.
According to the management committee, these bridges will be restored to their original look.