Sorazaya Bridge, River crossing in Teramachi district, Hiroshima, Japan.
Sorazaya Bridge carries Hiroshima's Jōnan-dōri over the old Ōta River (Honkawa), just west of Chūō Park. The 125 m road bridge is 18 m wide, with a three-span continuous plate girder superstructure, two reinforced-concrete inverted-T abutments and two reinforced-concrete rigid-frame piers on pile foundations. It opened in July 1970.
A ferry linked the banks in front of Sorazaya Inari Shrine from the Edo-period domain administration until the Taisho era. The bridge itself opened in July 1970, built as part of the Motomachi district redevelopment begun in 1968. It carries the Hiroshima city road Nakahiro-Ujina line, known as Jōnan-dōri, on three continuous steel plate-girder spans 125 m long and 18 m wide.
The name Sorazaya comes from the Sorazaya Inari Shrine on the downstream right bank; a ferry crossed the river here from the Edo period until the Taisho era. Locals use the bridge as a landmark: the islet just upstream holds temples of different sects, and the bridge helps orient worshippers heading to them.
The bridge carries Hiroshima city road Nakahiro-Ujina line (Jōnan-dōri) over the old Ōta River, 125 m long and 18 m wide. It stands on the west side of Hiroshima Central Park; east lie the park, Hiroshima Castle and the prefectural government offices, while west the road leads to National Route 183 and the Nakahiro interchange of the Hiroshima Expressway Route 4. The Aioi Bridge, carrying the Hiroden main line, crosses just downstream.
The bridge opened in July 1970 as part of the Motomachi district redevelopment begun in 1968. From 1979 the left-bank embankment near the bridge was planted with poplars, nicknamed "Popura", which became a symbol of Hiroshima's riverside scenery until the tree was cut down in 2008 after dying; saplings grown from its cuttings were later replanted there.
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