祭畤大橋, Collapsed bridge memorial in Ichinoseki, Japan

The Matsurube Bridge was a steel girder structure that crossed the Onikoshizawa Valley, a tributary of the Iwai River. The twisted steel framework now stands at its original location, showing the severe damage from ground movement.

The structure was completed in 1978 and collapsed during a powerful earthquake in 2008 that struck the region. The collapse became a turning point for learning more about earthquakes and ground behavior.

The collapsed first bridge is kept as a disaster relic within the Matsurube Disaster Site Observation Hill park, reached by a wooden walkway beside it. The site records the 2008 Iwate-Miyagi Nairiku earthquake, when the ground under one pier slid about 11 metres. The old steel arch Matsurube Bridge, used before 1978, still stands between the temporary bridge and the second bridge, without an approach road.

The collapsed first bridge is preserved as a disaster relic within the Matsurube Disaster Site Observation Hill park, reached by a wooden walkway beside it. By public transport, take the Iwate Kotsu Sukawa Onsen line to the Bunano-mori Matsurube-kan-mae stop, about 60 minutes from Ichinoseki Station, then walk 5 minutes. By car it is about 30 minutes from Ichinoseki IC on the Tohoku Expressway.

The bridge failed not because of poor design but because the ground beneath one of its supports shifted sideways by several meters. This discovery showed that even well-engineered structures can be powerless against extreme ground movement.