Tokyo Prefecture, Japan's Bridges: Sumida River Bridges

September 2013 (35.6623 Degrees, 139.7747 Degrees) Sumida River Bridges

My last photo of Japan was taken from the Kachidoki Bridge looking upstream at the Tsukuda and Chuo Bridges. Barely seen in the morning haze is the Skytree Tower behind the buildings on the left side of the river. Although this was my last photo from this trip to Japan, I'll be back next month for the annual US-Japan Bridge Workshop.

Tokyo Prefecture, Japan's Bridges: Sumida River Bridges by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Placer County, California Bridges: Yankee Jim's Bridge across the North Fork of the American River (4)

August 2012 (39.04000 Degrees, -120.90278 Degrees) Yankee Jim's Bridge

A last few photos of Yankee Jim's Bridge. These four-legged, lattice tower suspension bridges are simple but effective for spans under a couple hundred feet. Note the hardware used to anchor the cables into the ground. I wonder what the criteria was to limit the maximum load to 3 tons?

The bridge was built in 1930 and put together with cables, rods, rivets, and angle iron. I read that a work crew of immigrant Chinese laborers came through with hand tools and dynamite to build the road. They still report a few deaths every year from people driving too fast around its turns.

The bridge is 82 years old, its covered in rust, and it has a sufficiency rating of 2.1. I wonder if Placer County has plans to replace it, what kind of bridge it would be, and how much it would cost?

Placer County, California Bridges: Yankee Jim's Bridge across the North Fork of the American River (4) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License.

Tokyo, Japan's Bridges: Bridges over the Kyu Nakagawa in Koto Ward

March 2012 (35.693 Degrees, 139.848 Degrees) Kyu Nakagawa

Unlike some bridge bloggers who maintain a secret identity, there is nothing anonymous about my blog. For instance, in the above photo I can be seen waving as we get ready to go paddling on the Kyu Nakagawa.

Masa-san who runs Paddlefreaks always takes a photo of me before we set out. He has the art of running an urban adventure company down to a science. All of his equipment fits on a dolly that he wheels to the nearest subway station. It doesn't matter if we paddle in a circle or just go downstream. In Tokyo there is always a subway station nearby.

Not only is Japan a very wet country but many portions of Tokyo are below sea level. All of the rivers and canals serve a single purpose, to drain the city before flooding can occur.

In the top photo I'm standing on a little boat launch. The Kyu Nagagawa goes north and south in the center of the Google Earth photo above (the Arakawa is on the east side of the photo). At the bottom of the photo is the Higashi Ojima Train Station Bridge that we studied yesterday. Continuing north is the Funabori Bridge (part of the same bridge we saw in my May 25th blog). North of that is a circular walkway that crosses the canal on the Sakura and Momiji Bridges. The boat launch is just north of the circular walkway. North of the boat launch are the five bridges that you can see behind me. The left and right Sakai Bridges are hard to see in the Google Earth photo because the Metropolitan Expressway Bridge (Route 7) is over it. Just north of that is the blue steel Kameko Bridge. I'm not sure what the name of the wide, three span bridge is just behind me. We'll get a closer look at all the bridges once we put the canoe in the water.

Tokyo, Japan's Bridges: Bridges over the Kyu Nakagawa in Koto Ward by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

Australia's Bridges: The William Jolly Bridge across the Brisbane River in Queensland (3)

March 2011 (-27.469 deg., 153.016 deg.) William Jolly Bridge

In Brisbane the river crossings have nice details and they are very well maintained. For instance, the William Jolly Bridge is in good shape despite being 80 years old. We can see some discoloration at the bottom of the pier perhaps due the recent floods. Otherwise, it is in excellent condition. The people of Brisbane must take great pride in their infrastructure and in their river. That's also apparent in their willingness to get the best designers for new bridge projects and to take risks on new designs.

Australia's Bridges: The William Jolly Bridge across the Brisbane River in Queensland (3) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Australia's Bridges: The William Jolly Bridge across the Brisbane River in Queensland (2)

March 2011 (-27.469 deg., 153.016 deg.) William Jolly Bridge

Another photo of the William Jolly Bridge, apparently taken looking downstream as the sun was rising. My month-long trip through Australia and New Zealand was recorded on a subcompact (5.5 oz) Canon PowerShot780 IS. I have SLR and rangefinder cameras, but its nice just to walk around with a camera that fits in the palm of my hand. 

For my trip to Japan next month, I bought a compact (8.6 oz) Sony CyberShot DSC-HX9V. I can really feel the difference in weight/size, but the new camera comes with built-in GPS, a direction sensor, and a 16 megapixel sensor. 

Australia's Bridges: The William Jolly Bridge across the Brisbane River in Queensland (2) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Australia's Bridges: The William Jolly Bridge across the Brisbane River in Queensland (1)

March 2011 (-27.469 deg., 153.016 deg.) William Jolly Bridge

The William Jolly Bridge is a 1640 ft long structure with three 236 ft long arch spans over the Brisbane River. It's a steel bridge encased in concrete that was built in 1932. This bridge is similar to Los Angeles River Bridges like the Sixth Street Bridge built in the same year. Bridges during that period have a similar Modern style that remind me of the Wizard of Oz. It was originally called the Grey Street Bridge until the 1950s when it was renamed after Brisbane's first mayor. We'll take a closer look at it tomorrow.

Australia's Bridges: The William Jolly Bridge across the Brisbane River in Queensland (1) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Australia's Bridges: Victoria, Kurilpa, and William Jolly Bridges across the Brisbane River in Queensland

March 2011 (-27.469 deg., 153.018 deg.) Kurilpa Bridge

Another photo taken from the Victoria Bridge of the Kurilpa and William Jolly Bridges.  The photo is taken at a bend in the river and so the William Jolly Bridge is actually perpendicular to the Kurilpa Bridge.

If the Kurilpa Bridge was a little more orderly, it might provide a more harmonious river view. Instead we see two women walking in front of a river topped with a variety of vertical elements in front of medium-rise buildings, forested hills, and a cloudy sky.

Australia's Bridges: Victoria, Kurilpa, and William Jolly Bridges across the Brisbane River in Queensland by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.