Discover more about living bridges – bridges built from the aerial roots of rubber fig trees in the hills of northeast India
Most bridges are built to withstand nature. In the hills of northeast India, however, some are part of nature itself. Across the state of Meghalaya, Indigenous Khasi and Jaintia communities have spent centuries growing bridges from the aerial roots of rubber fig trees (Ficus elastica). Known as living root bridges, they’re among the world’s most unusual forms of infrastructure.
Meghalaya (which means ‘the abode of the clouds’) is one of the wettest places in the world – near its southern border, the Khasi Hills, receives nearly 12 metres of rain each year. During the summer monsoon, rivers can quickly become impassable, cutting villages off from one another.
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Local communities found a solution in the roots of the rubber fig tree. As the trees mature, they produce long aerial roots that can be guided across rivers using bamboo scaffolding or hollowed-out areca palm trunks. Over time, the roots reach the opposite bank, thicken and gradually fuse together.
The process is slow. A bridge can take decades to become fully usable. Maintaining it is a task passed from one generation to the next. Some bridges are thought to be several hundred years old. Unlike conventional bridges, living root bridges become stronger as they age. As the tree continues to grow, new roots can be woven into the structure. The roots naturally join together through a process known as anastomosis, creating a dense network capable of supporting dozens of people at once.
Today, around 75 living root bridges have been documented in Meghalaya. The best known is the Double Decker Root Bridge near the village of Nongriat, where two levels of roots cross the same river. It has become one of the region’s most popular tourist attractions.
The bridges do more than connect communities. Because they remain living trees, they continue to stabilise soil, absorb carbon and provide habitat for wildlife. Researchers have observed animals using the bridges as part of the surrounding forest network. In many ways, they function as both infrastructure and ecosystem.
That combination has attracted interest from architects and engineers elsewhere. Researchers in Germany have studied the bridges as an example of regenerative design, where structures work with natural processes rather than replacing them. Experiments using living trees in urban architecture are already underway.
For the Khasi communities that developed them, however, living root bridges are nothing new. They are a practical response to a challenging landscape, refined over centuries of observation and care.
Most infrastructure begins to deteriorate as soon as it’s completed. Living root bridges follow a different path. The older they become, the stronger they grow
