The timber used is the Chinese coniferous northeastern larch, a cousin species to other larch types. Like its American and European cousins, it is strong, tough, durable, and straight. Chinese hemlock is also suitable, but it is not as resistant to rot as larch. No preservatives were used to treat the timber owing to the possible hazardous effects on people and the waterway. The top face of the platform is to have a transverse and longitudinal slope of 1 percent to allow for rainwater runoff.
All timbers are to be treated twice with tung oil, also known as China wood oil, after construction.
The end of each transverse girder was covered with a ceramic ornament in the shape of a dragon head, which will also provide protection against the rain. The bridge will be solely for pedestrians and is designed to conform to the applicable Chinese building standards. Two alternate construction methods were proposed once NOVA had ruled out the simplest and most obvious method of driving piles into the river and using them as temporary supports. This approach was perceived as being too boring for television viewers. The contractor, Chen Fu Xiang, first suggested using river floats to support the initial bridge elements while allowing for the passage of boats, but this idea was countered with a suggestion to preassemble the bridge in halves and then use tiebacks to lower the halves into position and lock them.