Osaka Prefecture, Japan Bridges: Yodogawa Bridges

November 2013 (34.6981 Degrees, 135.4718 Degrees) Yodogawa Bridges

The 808 bridges of Naniwa (Osaka) was so named because of its many rivers and many river crossings. Therefore, my last two blogs are about a few of the bridges that cross Osaka's rivers.

The Yodogawa is about half a mile wide and it's crossed by many beautiful bridges. The Yodogawa Ohashi (see photo above) is an elegant bridge built in 1926. It carries the Hanshin Route 2 with steel girder spans for the approach and Warren truss spans in the middle of the river.  It is supported on squat pier walls.

Connector ramps are being built on both sides of the Hanshin (Kobe) Route 3 Bridge (see photo above). All the superstructures are steel box girders and the substructures are big pier walls.

Between the Hanshin Route 2 and Route 3 Bridges is the Hanshin Mainline Railway Bridge composed of Warren Truss spans over the river. In the photo above we can see a Hanshin Express Model 8234 Electric Motorized Train (the cars have a red top and beige bottom) heading into Yodogawa Station. All the trains are instantly recognizable because of their distinctive colors.

In the Google earth photo above we can see the three bridges we just studied are near the mouth of the Yodogawa. The last bridges are the Denpo and Shin Denpo Bridges and the Hanshin (Wangan) Route 5 Bridge just beyond the river's mouth in Osaka Bay with two basket-handle arches along its length.

Osaka Prefecture, Japan Bridges: Yodogawa Bridges by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

El Dorado County, California's Bridges: State Route 50 across Weber Creek (2)

February 2013 (38.71669 Degrees, -120.8362 Degrees) Weber Creek Bridge

In the photo above we can see how the old State Route 50 Bridge over Weber Creek is dwarfed by the newer highway bridges. It looks like the newer bridges are on taller embankments, perhaps because they are raised above the 100 year flood (or maybe they are just longer and going over a deep valley).

The old State Route 50 Bridge is a five span haunched girder bridge with in-span hinges at the first and fifth spans. I think the bridge might have been rehabilitated at some point. Note the interesting roller bearings in the photo below. Those don't look like they were built in 1938. The bridge is now 75 years old, which makes it eligible for designation as an historic place. However, I couldn't find any reference to this bridge. It looks like a new end diaphragm and new wingwall (and perhaps a new abutment) were cast recently, perhaps because of the widening of the newer bridges?

El Dorado County, California's Bridges: State Route 50 across Weber Creek (2) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

El Dorado County, California's Bridges: State Route 50 across Weber Creek (1)

February 2013 (38.71669 Degrees, -120.8362 Degrees) Weber Creek Bridge

Over the next few days we are going to study several bridges that cross Weber Creek, a 12 mile long tributary of the South Fork of the American River that runs through Diamond Springs, California.

Diamond Springs took part in much of the 19th century development that helped to create California. The wagon route used by the first pioneers went through town as well as the Pony Express and parts of the first Transcontinental Railroad. Today, two major routes go through Diamond Springs, State Route 49 and State Route 50. More information on the history of transportation through Diamond Springs can be found on Wikepedia.

Today's bridge was the original State Route 50 crossing over Weber Creek, just half a mile west of the previously studied Forni Road Bridge (the yellow pushpin in the Google earth photo below). In 1963, parallel, steel girder, four span bridges on multicolumn bents were built beside it, but they left the original bridge (built in 1938) in place. State Route 50 keeps getting more and more traffic as El Dorado County continues to grow and so new lanes are being built, but so far the original bridge has been preserved.

We'll take a closer look at this bridge tomorrow.

El Dorado County, California's Bridges: State Route 50 across Weber Creek (1) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

Niigata Japan's Bridge: Hokuriku Expressway Bridges across the U River

August 2007 (37.340 Degrees, 138.560 Degrees) Hokuriku Expressway Bridges

Two big steel girder bridges across the U RIver. It looks like the piers on both bridges were retrofitted with concrete casings.

Niigata Japan's Bridge: Hokuriku Expressway Bridges across the U River by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

Niigata, Japan's Bridges: Agewa River Bridges

August 2007 (37.326 Degrees, 138.452 Degrees) Agewa River Bridges

Looking down at the various bridges crossing the narrow mouth of the Agewa River. The railroad bridge in the foreground carries trains between tunnels. The bridge along the Sea of Japan was closed after the 2007 earthquake due to all the landslides which isolated the fishing communities along the coast.

Niigata, Japan's Bridges: Agewa River Bridges by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

Niigata, Japan's Bridges: Bridges over the Omigawa (2)

August 2012 (37.3469 Degrees, 138.4875 Degrees) Omigawa Bridges

 Another view of Omigawa Beach looking down from the headlands. You may have to click on the photo to see the one span pedestrian bridge across the river's mouth. A little further inland is the JR Shinetsu bridge across the Omigawa. We can see a blue tarp covering a damaged building roof due to the Kashiwazaki Earthquake. Many of these small villages were isolated by landslides that occurred during the earthquake. The entire view is from between the legs of the Yoneyama Bridge.

Niigata, Japan's Bridges: Bridges over the Omigawa (2) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

Tokyo Japan's Bridges: Metropolitan Expressway #7 Bridge across the Kyu Nakagawa

March 2012 (35.695 Degrees, 139.848 Degrees) Metropolitan Expressway Bridge

My last photo from a canoe on the Nakagawa Canal is of the same view from my June 4th blog, only without me in the photo. The Metropolitan Expressway is a long viaduct that carries the Komatsugawa Route in a east-west direction through southern Tokyo. An enormous city must have almost unlimited resources to squeeze in as many bridges as possible above ground, leaving more room for parks, walking paths, and surface streets.

Tokyo Japan's Bridges: Metropolitan Expressway #7 Bridges across the Kyu Nakagawa by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

Tokyo, Japan's Bridges: Sakai Bridges across the Kyu Nakagawa

March 2012 (35.695 Degrees, 139.848 Degrees) Sakai Bridges

Eventually we packed everything into the canoe and headed upstream. The water looked particularly viscous, which is something I've noticed before on Tokyo's canals. The tall Route 7 Metropolitan Expressway Viaduct and the short Sakai Bridges are just ahead. The continuous, steel box girders on the viaduct are able to cross the canal with a single span while the simple steel stringers supporting the Sakai Bridges required a couple of extra piers to get across the river.

I had recently purchased a waterproof camera with GPS (a Fuji), but I noticed that it used the previously obtained latitude and longitude if it lost its satellites. Also, it didn't have much of a lens, just a narrow piece of plastic at the top of the camera. However, it fit in my pocket and took decent photos.

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

Japan's Bridges: Onagawa Bridges in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture

June 2011 (38.427 Degrees, 141.311 Degrees) Kitakami River Bridges

A view upstream at the Onagawa (a branch of the Kitakami River) in Ishinomaki. Behind me there was severe devastation due to the tsunami. At the end of the island in this photo is a bulb-shaped building that housed a famous comic book museum (Ishinomaki Mangattan). A replica of the Statue of Liberty also remained standing.

The steel girder bridges to the island were overtopped by the tsunami but they still carry traffic. However, pedestrian walkways on the exterior girders were washed away. The Shin Bridge (further upstream) appeared to be undamaged.

Japan's Bridges: Onagawa Bridges in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Japan's Bridges: Tagohashi Bridges in Miyagi Prefecture (3)

June 2011 (38.287 Degrees, 140.963 Degrees) Tagohashi Bridges

A view from under the Tagohashi Bridges. We can see the two piers connected with a small closure wall. The piers must have been connected to improve streamflow during flooding. It also looks like the girders have moved to the left (and off their bearings) during the earthquake. There are stains at the top of the piers and at mid-height on the pipe piles. I wonder if the tsunami or flooding has overtopped the bridge?

Japan's Bridges: Tagohashi Bridges in Miyagi Prefecture (3) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Japan's Bridges: Tagohashi Bridges in Miyagi Prefecture (2)

June 2011 (38.2867 Degrees, 140.9627 Degrees) Tagohashi Bridges

Another view of the Tagohashi Bridges (while standing at the end of the utility bridge). The bents for the utility bridge are single pipe pile extensions with a concrete cap. The bents on the road/foot bridge are concrete pier walls, except the closer bridge has a pipe pile bent at one location! I wonder when the bent was replaced and why?

They really made the gate on the utility bridge lethal to climb over. However, it looks pretty easy to just swing yourself around the gate and onto the deck. I wonder why the utility bridge is freshly painted while the road/foot bridges are rusty? 

Japan's Bridges: Tagohashi Bridges in Miyagi Prefecture (2) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Japan's Bridges: Tagohashi Bridges in Miyagi Prefecture (1)

June 2011 (38.2867 Degrees, 140.9627 Degrees) Tagohashi Bridges

We returned to the Nanakitagawa and came upon three bridges in a quiet neighborhood, unrelated to any major highway. Perhaps that's why the roadway bridge remains closed three months after the earthquake. Actually the two bridges on the right share the same pier (or pier widening). Perhaps both decks were originally roadway bridges, but the one on the far right now is used only to carry pedestrians.

They are four span steel girder bridges that slammed into the abutments (or maybe the abutments slammed into the girders) during the March earthquake. The utility bridge remains undamaged. A sign on the pedestrian bridge said it was built in 1967 but they look older and are in poor shape. Maybe they aren't being repaired because they are in poor condition? We'll take another look at them tomorrow.

Japan's Bridges: Tagohashi Bridges in Miyagi Prefecture (1) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

New Zealand's Bridges: Old Waimakariri Highway and Railway Bridges in Christchurch

March 2011 (-43.412 Degrees, 172.651 Degrees) Old Waimakariri River Bridges

The Old Waimakariri Bridge was built in 1950. It's a steel girder bridge on pier walls that carries the Main North Road. To the east is an even older railway bridge. Note the exposed piles on both bridges. Also, the old highway bridge is carrying a big water line. The new Waimakariri Bridges are just to the west of this photo. Waimakariri is a Maori work that means something like 'river of cold rushing water.'

New Zealand's Bridges: Old Waimakariri River Bridges in Christchurch by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Mexico's Bridges: Nuevo Puente Armeria (2)

Another view of the New Armeria Bridge. Maybe bridge owners should avoid calling their bridges 'new,' since they so rapidly become old. However, this bridge appears to still be in pretty good shape.

I see some cables near the bottom flange. Perhaps it was strengthened with prestressed tendons to carry heavier trucks. This was popular in California twenty years ago as a way to allow permit vehicles onto more roads. However, it may have been wiser to keep heavy vehicles off most roads since they tear up the pavement so quickly.

I also see some cables hanging from the barrier rail, but those look like electrical wiring, maybe to power a nearby ranch.

The wingwalls stick straight out from the sides of the stemwall because the bridge is in a small canyon that was carved by the river. There are concrete corbels under the steel girders. Perhaps they are used as jacking platforms for the girders in case the bearings need to be replaced.

Mexico's Bridges: Nuevo Puente Armeria (2) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

Mexico's Bridges: Nuevo Puente Armeria (1)

North of the Armeria Highway Bridge and the Armeria Railway Bridge is the New Armeria Bridge. It carries Route 110 from Ciudad de Armeria northward to Cofradia de Juarez before returning to Route 200 at the Colima Armeria Overcrossing.

Nuevo Puente Armeria is a four span steel girder bridge on single column bents and seat-type abutments. As can be seen on the placard, the bridge was completed in 1963 at a cost of 3.3 million Mexican Pesos.

Placards are mounted on important bridges. Not only do they provide basic information about the bridge, but also some information about the government that financed the bridge construction.

Note that the end of the concrete bridge barrier had been struck by oncoming vehicles. Because such accidents can cause terrible injuries, guardrails should be mounted at the approaches to bridges to deflect drivers away from the ends of concrete barriers.

Mexico's Bridges: Nuevo Puente Armeria (1) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

Vancouver's Bridges: Queensborough Bridge

All of the bridges we've looked at crossing the North Arm of the Fraser River have haunched girders. The engineers must have been after every inch of vertical clearance they could get to avoid collisions. However, I believe there's a few highway bridges near the airport without haunches.

The Queensborough Bridge is the easternmost bridge crossing the North Arm of the Fraser River. In the accompanying photo we are standing up on the north bank looking south across the river and at Lulu Island. There's so much timber floating down the river, that there's barely room for vessels through the shipping channel. I wonder how many of the great forests of the Pacific Northwest still remain?

In the photo you can see the haunched steel girders over the river, the timber fenders protecting the piers, and the very long approach at a steep grade south of the river. The river crossing looks flat, like they didn't maintain a smooth vertical curve over the river. The river spans are supported on pier walls while the approach spans are supported on two column bents.

The Queensborough Bridge was built in 1960 for the City of New Westminster at a cost of $4 million Canadian. It replaced an earlier bridge that was built in 1909. The entire structure including the approach spans is 924 m (3034 ft) long. It was built to provide access to and from the City of Queensborough on Lulu Island.  It was purchased by the provincial government in 1966 and became a connector between Highway 91A and Highway 91 to the south. Like most bridges around Vancouver, it provides vehicle lanes as well as access for pedestrians and cyclists.

I'm surprised that I could find no information on whether the bridge had been retrofitted for earthquakes. Also, I couldn't find out how much vertical clearance it has over the water, although I would guess it's at least 20 m. There is a book Richmond and its bridges: Fifteen crossings of the Fraser River by Alan Dawe (published in 1996) for those wishing more information about this bridge.

Vancouver's Bridges: Queensborough Bridge by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.