Tokyo, Japan's Bridges: Sobu Rail Line across the Sumida River (2)

June 2011 (35.6966 Degrees, 139.7899 Degrees) Sobu Rail Line Bridge

Continuing up the Sumida River we arrive at the Sobu Rail Line Bridge. This structure has deep girders and skinny arch ribs for the center span. This arrangement, with the arch only for axial compression while the girders resist moment, shear, and axial tension is called a Langer arch bridge. It was completed in 1932 and carries many trains a day so it must be a successful design. The main span is almost 100 m long. The bridge carries the Sobu Rail Line between Asakusabashi and Ryogoku Stations. In this photo the Metropolitan Expressway is along the river's east bank and Tokyo's Sky Tree is becoming more visible.

Tokyo, Japan's Bridges: Sobu Rail Line Bridge across the Sumida River (2) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

Sichuan China's Bridges: Baiyun Bridge in Mianyung (3)

July 2008 (31.4547°N, 104.7177°E) Baiyun Bridge

Mianyung is a very pretty city. In this photo you can see the dam upstream  that turns this river into a lake. I went under the bridge to photograph the girders and immediately became covered in mud. A family made homeless by the earthquake came over and gave me a bucket of water to clean off in. However, I accidentally dropped my Leica camera in the bucket and had to use my cell phone to photograph bridges the rest of the trip.

Sichuan China's Bridges: Baiyun Bridge in Mianyung (2) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

Sichuan China's Bridges: Baiyun Bridge in Mianyung (2)

July 2008 (31.4547°N, 104.7177°E) Baiyun Bridge

A view from the deck of the Baiyun Bridge in Mianyung. Unlike some recent tied arches we've studied, this bridge has stiffened girders between the arches. Perhaps that's why there was little damage.

Mianyung was a nice town with little bridge damage but there must have been quite a bit of building damage since there were many relief camps around town.

Sichuan China's Bridges: Baiyun Bridge in Mianyung (2) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

Sichuan China's Bridges: Baiyun Bridge in Mianyung (1)

July 2008 (31.4547°N, 104.7177°E) Baiyun Bridge

Baiyun Bridge is a three span, simply supported, arch bridge with prestressed tendons at the deck to keep the arch in compression.  The arches are supported on four-column bents and seat type abutments.  After the earthquake, oil in the tendon ducts began to leak, suggesting that the ducts had developed cracks during the earthquake (or possibly the anchorages were damaged).  Also, there was some spalling of the deck around the arches and cables.  Mianyung was in the plains and far from the area of strong shaking.

Sichuan China's Bridges: Baiyun Bridge in Mianyung (1) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.