Yichang creates vertical green corridors on urban bridge piers

By Chen Si.

Yichang is pushing ahead with a vertical greening project for bridge piers. So far, 1,331 piers across the city have been covered with vegetation. The green space beneath bridges now exceeds 200,000 square meters.
 

A bridge pier is covered with lush greenery. Photo by Huang Xiang

Zhao Wen, a staff member at the Yichang Urban Landscape Construction and Maintenance Center, said work on the piers of the Yiling Yangtze River Bridge extension began in April. More than 100 piers have been completed.

"Mucuna sempervirens stays green in spring and summer and turns deep red in autumn. It offers color for three seasons," he said. The vines are expected to fully cover the piers by this time next year.

Yichang has tested pier greening for many years. Lush landscapes now line piers along Dianjun Avenue, Xiling 2nd Road, Xiazhou Avenue, and Huaxi Road, as well as tunnels and underpasses.

The green landscape along Xiling 2nd Road has taken initial shape. Photo by Huang Xiang

The Yichang Forestry and Landscape Bureau reports that from 2021 to 2025, the city launched an innovative greening program for bare slopes and rock cliffs. The projects covered nearly 800 urban bridge piers and more than 600 bare steep slopes, forming multi-layered vertical green landscapes.

This year, the city has used climbing plants including Boston ivy, Chinese trumpet creeper, Mucuna sempervirens, and climbing roses for pier greening.

Official data show that vertical greening has been completed on 1,331 urban bridge piers. Work on 128 piers along Shengli 3rd Road is moving forward with infrastructure projects. The total green space under bridges has surpassed 200,000 square meters.

Pier greening does more than improve looks. Thick foliage captures road dust, filters exhaust, and lowers pier surface temperatures in summer heat.

Vertical pier greening is a core part of Yichang's urban vertical ecological improvement program.
 

Lush greenery lines the side of the underpass on Xiling 2nd Road. Photo by Huang Xiang

Zhang Xinwen, deputy chief of the greening section at the center, said Yichang has planned 62 key vertical ecological upgrading projects this year.

The projects cover central urban blocks, traffic corridors, transport hubs, facade zones, landscape nodes, areas along high-speed railways and expressways, and hillsides, waterfronts, and roadside belts.

Forty-four of these projects have been completed.

The program favors easy-to-maintain, long-flowering, low-cost plants such as roses and bougainvillea. More than 500,000 rose bushes have been planted citywide. Thirty-four bougainvillea landscape displays have been created.

Three-dimensional flower beds with local character now stand at transport hubs and landmarks including Yichangbei Railway Station and Yiling Square. By greening piers and adding floral landscapes to boundary walls, the city has built green corridors under bridges and flower belts along roads.

Yichang has used its green landscapes to host more than 20 flower-themed events, including primrose and hydrangea shows. Over 80 mass cultural and sports activities are held each year. City parks draw more than one million visitors during holidays.

The city's ecological green spaces bring both cultural and economic benefits.

Wang Jingjing, Yang Mingdong also contributed to this story