Bridges of Lyon, France: Perrache Viaduct across the Rhone River

September 2016 (45.7466, 4.8302) Perrache Viaduct

Continuing downstream past Pont Gallieni we arrive at Perrache Viaduct, a railroad bridge across the Rhone. The bridge was named after the nearby train station (and surrounding district), whose enormous yard can be seen in the Google earth photo in last week's blog. The bridge (and the station) were built in 1856. It is a five span cast iron arch bridge on pile foundations that have been repaired, widened, and strengthened several times. It was bombed twice (by the Allies and then by the Germans) during WWII but it was only partially damaged. After the liberation the U.S. Army used the bridge to carry convoys of heavy vehicles eastward after the retreating German Army.

When looking at the bridge, it isn't hard to identify the newer and older members. The exterior arch on the upstream face (above) appears to be riveted and it supports the deck with steel spandrel columns. The exterior arch on the downstream face (below) is reinforced concrete for two of the spans (as part of a later widening or repair) perhaps because steel was hard to obtain. All of the railroad bridges in this part of France have overhead lines to power the trains.

This is the second railroad bridge that we've studied (we looked at the Viaduc SNCF for the first posting on Lyon). We'll look at several more railroad bridges as we complete our circumnavigation of Lyon and head into the surrounding countryside. I noticed a blog on how to take a train from the Perrache Viaduct to the Millau Viaduct (6 hours and $84) in case anyone is interested. Other trains go to Paris and Rome.

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Bridges of Lyon, France: Pont Lafayette across the Rhone River

September 2016 (45.7636, 4.8397) Pont Lafayette

Continuing downstream past the Passerelle du College is a second Rhone River crossing that survived WWII (although the center span was destroyed and rebuilt in 1946). A second bomb was found under the bridge in 2014.

The Pont Lafayette was named after a military hero in France and in the United States who was instrumental in winning the American War of Independence. With George Washington he laid siege to General Cornwallis' troops in Yorktown and forced his surrender. In 1829 Lafayette crossed the Rhone (on an earlier bridge at this site) and it was renamed in his honor. At his death the U.S. government brought soil from Yorktown to place on his grave.

The current Pont Lafayette was built in 1890 to replace an aged structure. It's a three span metal arch. The stone piers are decorated with sculptures representing the Rhone and Saone Rivers (reproductions of sculptures found at the Place Bellecour). The Saone is represented as a woman resting on a sedate lion and the Rhone is represented by a warrior leaning against a roaring lion (by Nicolas and Guilaume Coustou).  The ornate exterior arches are decorated with fluted columns adding to the bridge's neo-classical appearance. The mauve and aquamarine colors seem very French.

The bottom flange is attached to the arch (and attached to the cross-bracing) with rivets. Similar to the Vasabron Bridge, which was discussed in a recent Happy Pontist Blog, this bridge was most likely fashioned out of wrought iron. The first steel bridge was the Eads Bridge in Saint Louis, Missouri that was built in 1874, 14 years before this bridge was constructed. However, it's possible that the middle span was rebuilt after the war using steel.

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Santa Clara County, California Bridges: Happy Hollow Park Bridge

May 2014 (37.32618 Degrees, -121.86040 Degrees) Happy Hollow Park Bridge

Continuing south from the Taylor Street Interchange I arrived at the Happy Hollow Park and Zoo, which has an interesting two span steel arch bridge at the entrance to the park. The bridge is composed of identical 270 ft long arch spans that are 22 ft high and carries pedestrians across Coyote Creek into the park. The bridge was designed by Ted Zoli of HNTB and completed at a cost of $3.4 by Anderson Pacific Engineering Construction in 2012.

The arch ribs are composed of rolled steel I girders loaded on their weak axis. I like how the cross-bracing weaves back and forth between the arch ribs. The deck hangs from crossed pairs of 3/4 inch diameter steel cables. I wonder if that makes this bridge a Nielsen Lohse Arch? 

Santa Clara County, California Bridges: Happy Hollow Park Bridge by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Ibaraki, Japan's Bridges: Kouzaki Bridges across the Tonegawa (2)

June 2011 (35.9105 Degrees 140.396 Degrees) Kouzaki Bridges

A few months after the Great Tohoku Earthquake, Professor Fujino at the University of Tokyo took me to see some of the bridges in Ibaraki Prefecture. I thought the rivers running through Tokyo were green oases until we drove into Ibaraki.

The Tonegawa was an ancient river that constantly flooded Tokyo until it was finally diverted east through Chiba Prefecture into the Pacific. After the recent earthquake (and the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster) carp caught in the river were found to have increased amounts of radioactive cesium.

The Kouzaki Roadway Bridge is a long steel girder bridge that includes three tied arch spans on single column bents with hammerhead caps over the Tonegawa River. The arch spans are 48.8m, 49.2m, 48.8m and the approach spans are 79.2m. There is a parallel steel girder pedestrian bridge. Both bridges were built in 1967.

The roadway bridge was retrofitted quite recently with concrete casings around the columns and dampers, restrainers, and shear keys around the bent caps. During the earthquake, the site experienced liquefaction that damaged the piles, caused considerable movement of the spans, and cracks and spalls to the restrainer connections. The bridge was closed in May (two months after the earthquake) so it could be repaired. It is thought that the retrofit prevented unseating during the earthquake.

Ibaraki, Japan's Bridges: Kouzaki Bridges across the Tonegawa (2) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Tokyo, Japan's Bridges: Ayase Arch Bridge across the Ayase River

March 2012 (35.728 Degrees, 139.837 Degrees) Ayase Arch Bridge

We previously encountered the Ayase River in my April 17, 2012 Blog. One hundred years ago the Ayase ran alongside of the Sumida River. However, as a result of flood control work that created the Arakawa, a short segment of the Ayase now connects the Sumida to the Arakawa and a longer segment of the Ayase now flows along the east bank of Arakawa.

Just east of this longer Ayase River is the elevated Shuto Expressway. Most of the bridges that we've studied cross over both the Arakawa and the Ayase River and then go under the expressway. However, the Ayase Arch Bridge provides pedestrians with access (from the east) to the strip of land between the Arakawa and the Ayase (see Google Earth photo below).

Tokyo, Japan's Bridges: Ayase Arch Bridge across the Ayase River by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

Tokyo, Japan's Bridges: Shirahige Bridge from the Deck of the Suijin Bridge

(35.736 Degrees, 139.814 Degrees) Suijin Bridge

Looking back downstream at the Shirahige Bridge from the deck of the Suijin Bridge. Besides the bridge we also have a nice view of the Sky Tree Tower, The Metropolitan Elevated Expressway, the Riverside Sumida Central Tower, and the Tokyo Gas Tanks (sitting next to the Shirahige Jinja Temple). All of these big modern structures tend to dwarf and hide old Tokyo. You have to seek out and find the older parts of the city. Fortunately, Japan is very careful to preserve its past.

We are actually standing at what was the mouth of the enormous Tone River before civil engineers diverted most of the water to the east (starting at around 700 AD). As you can see on the map below, the east bank of the Sumida River was originally islands in Tokyo Bay. Where we are standing in the photo is called Suijin, the name of the water deity in the Shinto religion.

Tokyo, Japan's Bridges: Shirahige Bridge from the Deck of the Suijin Bridge by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

Tokyo, Japan's Bridges: Komagata Bridge across the Sumida River (3)

June 2011 (35.708 Degrees, 139.797 Degrees) Komagata Bridge

Another view of the Komagata Bridge, this time looking downstream at the Sumida River. This is my third blog about the Komagata Bridge. Besides yesterday's blog, I provided a blurry black and white photo on May 29, 2009.  I took it in the early 1990s from a bus on the Metropolitan Expressway (on the left). Today's photo is from the cruise boat that travels back and forth between Tokyo Bay and the Asahi Brewery.

Tokyo, Japan's Bridges: Komagata Bridge across the Sumida River (3) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

Japan's Bridges: Kouzaki Bridges across Tonegawa in Ibaraki

June 2011 (35.9105 Degrees 140.396 Degrees) Kouzaki Bridges

Today we went to Ibaraki Prefecture to look at bridge damage from the March 11, 2011 Tohoku Earthquake. Japan is divided into prefectures like Ibaraki and also into regions like Kanto, Kansai, and Tohoku, which is in northeast Honshu (one of the four islands in Japan).

The Kousaki Bridges had minor damage from an earthquake that stretched 700 km from Iwate Prefecture in the northeast to Chiba Prefecture in the southwest.  The bridges were open for two months and then an engineer discovered some of the piles were broken (due to lateral spreading) and closed the highway bridge (the pedestrian bridge remains open).

Japan's Bridges: Kouzaki Bridges across Tonegawa in Ibaraki by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.