Aioi Bridge, T-shaped bridge in Naka-ku, Hiroshima, Japan.
Aioi Bridge is a 123-meter structure in Naka-ku, Hiroshima, spanning two rivers with an unusual T-shaped layout. It carries both vehicles and tram tracks across the water, linking three banks together.
A wooden bridge was first built here in 1878, and the T-shaped layout was completed in 1940 after the connecting bridge opened in 1934. On 6 August 1945 the T-shape was the aiming point for the atomic bomb, which detonated about 300 metres away above Shima Hospital. The bridge survived and was fully repaired by 1949; the present steel girder span dates from 1983.
The name comes from the two bridges that "meet" each other: the original 1878 wooden bridge ran in a V-shape from Sarugaku-cho via the Jisenji-bana tip to Kajiya-cho, and the two spans were called Aiai-bashi, later written Aioi. Locals also called it "Kanetori-bashi" (money-taking bridge) because a wealthy backer charged a toll to cross.
The best view of the T-shape comes from above or from the nearby Peace Memorial Museum grounds. Tram and road traffic run alongside each other here, so watch for pedestrian signals when crossing.
The 1932 bridge's reinforced-concrete deck lifted about 1.5 m under the bomb's shockwave, a failure engineers had not anticipated; the blast, reflected off the river surface, pressed the span from below as well as above. A surviving floor girder from the old bridge is held by the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.
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