Minami Bisan-Seto Bridge, Railway and road suspension bridge in Sakaide, Japan
The Minami Bisan-Seto Bridge is a three-span continuous stiffened truss suspension bridge in Sakaide, carrying the Seto-Chuo Expressway and a railway line. Its main span measures 1,100 m within a total length of 1,723 m, and its main cables are 1.07 m in diameter. The light-gray steel towers rise from massive rectangular pier bases in the water, each tower formed of four columns braced by diagonals and horizontals in X patterns; the taller pier, 5P by Mitsugo Island, reaches 194 m.
Construction of this steel bridge began in 1978 and was completed in 1988, following a ferry disaster that showed the need for safer transportation. The project marked a turning point in regional infrastructure.
The bridge is part of the Seto-Chuo Expressway, whose chain of crossings is known as the Seto-Ohashi bridges. The Minami Bisan-Seto and Kita Bisan-Seto spans, linked across Mitsugo Island, were jointly selected for Japan's 20th-Century Heritage list. The Seto Ohashi Memorial Park stands next to the bridge.
The bridge carries the Seto-Chuo Expressway and the JR Seto-Ohashi Line between Sakaide and the islands; the railway runs beneath the road deck. Large tankers pass through the Bisan-Seto Minami navigation channel under the truss. The Seto Ohashi Memorial Park adjoins the bridge on the Sakaide side.
The anchorages hold the main cables of both the Minami and Kita Bisan-Seto bridges: the southern bridge's cables are fixed on the north side, the northern bridge's on the south, so cable tension presses the anchorage together rather than pulling it apart. The two bridges, paired across Mitsugo Island, were chosen as Japanese 20th-century heritage.
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