Mikobata Cast Iron Bridge, Cast iron arch bridge in Asago, Japan.
The Mikobata Cast Iron Bridge is a single-span cast iron arch bridge over the Mikobata River in the Sanou district of Asago, Hyogo Prefecture. It measures about 16 m long, 3.7 m wide and 3.8 m high, with a maximum span of 14.2 m. The castings were made at the Yokosuka Iron Works under French engineers and shipped by sea to Shikama.
The bridge was completed in March 1885 as part of a 16 km ore road built from 1883 to link the Mikobata mine with the Ikuno smelter. The cast iron was made at the Yokosuka Iron Works under French engineers and shipped by sea to Shikama. The total cost was 40,000 yen, funded by the Meiji government's Ministry of Public Works.
The bridge is one of five cast-iron bridges built along the roughly 16 km ore road between Mikobata and Ikuno, completed in 1885. The route was later called the Silver Horse Road and Ore Road, and in 2017 it was designated a Japan Heritage site as a 73 km route through the Harima and Tajima regions.
The bridge is in a rural area and is best reached on foot from the nearby Ikuno mining heritage sites, which are signed. Sturdy shoes are a good idea since the paths around the site can be uneven.
Despite being built for heavy industrial use, the bridge is surprisingly small in scale and looks almost delicate up close. It is one of the very few fully intact cast iron bridges of its kind remaining in Asia.
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