U Bein Bridge

Interesting facts

The main teak posts were driven about seven feet into the lake bed, and their tops were shaped into cones so that rainwater runs off rather than soaking in.

Construction began when the royal capital moved from Ava to Amarapura, which is why the timber of the abandoned Inwa palace was available.

The artist Colesworthey Grant drew the bridge in 1855, only a few years after it was completed.

Some of the original teak pillars have since been replaced with concrete ones, as rot and flooding weaken the oldest posts.

Its two original approach sections were built of brick and were later replaced by wooden approaches, raising the post count beyond the original 984.

Its builders used traditional Burmese methods of scaling and measurement, and the joints of the timber frame are interlocked with one another.

Why it is worth it

U Bein is less a bridge than a long line drawn across water. It runs for about 1.2 kilometres over the shallow Taungthaman Lake beside Amarapura, a former royal capital on the southern edge of Mandalay, and it is built entirely of teak: a narrow single-lane footway carried on more than a thousand slender posts. It is widely held to be the oldest and longest teak bridge in the world. Through the day it serves as an ordinary crossing for people on foot; at sunset the posts and the people on the deck become silhouettes against the sky, and the reflection doubles the procession in the water below.

The bridge went up between 1849 and 1851 and takes its name from Maung Bein, the official who had it built. Its timber came secondhand, salvaged from the former royal palace at Inwa – so the posts that hold up today's footway once stood in a king's residence. The original structure rested on 984 teak posts; with the approach sections and pavilions the count has risen to 1,086, and each post carries a number in Burmese numerals. The deck spans 482 sections and bends gently in the middle, a curve meant to help it withstand wind and water.

Four wooden pavilions stand at intervals along the way, places to sit out the heat and watch the lake. Nine passages have floors that can be lifted to let boats through. The view changes with the seasons: in July and August, when the lake is at its highest, the water rises far up the posts and the bridge seems to float on it, and the crossing is at its busiest.

Getting there

U Bein stands at Amarapura, about 2 km from the centre of the township, on the southern side of Mandalay. The nearest airport is Mandalay International (MDL), about 23 km away, with domestic connections across Myanmar and a small number of international flights.

From the encyclopaedia

U Bein Bridge is a crossing that spans the Taungthaman Lake near Amarapura in Myanmar. The 1.2-kilometre (0.75 mi) bridge was built around 1850 and is believed to be the oldest and longest teakwood bridge in the world. Construction began when the capital of Ava Kingdom moved to Amarapura, and the bridge is named after Maung Bein who had it built. It is used as an important passageway for the local people and has also become a tourist attraction and, therefore, a significant source of income for souvenir sellers. It is particularly busy during July and August when the lake is at its highest.

Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

U Bein Bridge

Interesting facts

Why it is worth it

Getting there

Plan your visit

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From the encyclopaedia