Has You Seen This Bridge Before? I’Ve Stumbled Across Pictures Of This Bridge A Few Times On The Ole’ T’Internet And I Must Say, It’S A Real Wow! Sight. Well, Check Out The Video Below And You’Ll Get To See The Reality Behind The Images, And At The End You Even Get A Driver’S Eye View! I Hop You’Re Not Afraid Of Heights! The Bridge, Known As The Rollercoaster Bridge, Is Actually Called The Eshima Ohashi Bridge, And Is Located In Sakaiminato.
In Japan. Amazingly, This Extraordinary Structure Is Actually One Of The Areas Top Tourist Attractions! Some Of The Imagery, Like That You See In The Video, Has Become So Well Known And Widely Shared That People Are Visiting The Bridge Just To Drive Over It!
It Is An Impressive Feat Of Engineering Indeed. The Reason For The Great Height Is That It’S Crossing A River Used By Very Large Ships, And Simply Needs To Be High So They Can Safely Pass Underneath. That Said, There Are Other Ways Of Going About It…Tunnels Are Often Used For Exactly This Reason, Or If You Think Of Tower Bridge In London, (Often Confused With ‘London Bridge’) Has A Road That Lifts Up Like Two Giant Doors To Allow Large Vessels To Pass Underneath. Of Course The Major Disadvantage Is That Only One Thing Can Happen At A Time, Either Cars Are Passing Over Or Boats Are Passing Under, But Not Both. If It’S A Very Busy Shipping Lane, Then A Bridge May Be A Good Option.
By The Way, Interesting Side Story, Did You Know That An American Called Robert P Mcculloch Actually Bought London Bridge, And Dismantled It In 1967 And Shifted It Stone By Stone To A Lake In The Usa Where It Still Resides As A Tourist Attraction. Although Vehemently Denied By Himself And By Ivan Luckin, The Man Who Sold It To Him, The Story Goes That He Actually Thought He Was Buying Tower Bridge, A Much More Recognisable And Iconic Tourist Attraction. That Would Make A Lot More Sense As The Bridge He Ended Up With, The Bridge Actually Called London Bridge, Is A Pretty Dull And Unremarkable 19Th Century Functional Piece Of Architecture.
Is It Possible That To Save The Enormous Embarassment And Humiliation He Just Pretended ‘Yeah, That’S What I Meant, I Just Wanted A Random Boring Old Bridge For My Lake’ Who Knows. I Guess We Should Take Them At Their Word.
A Tunnel Might Not Have Been The Best Option Either, Being Japan, If You Start Digging Around Where You’Re Not Wanted You May End Up Disturbing Godzilla In His Nest. Just Kidding! It Probably Comes Down To Money And Efficiency, And They’Ve Done A Great Job. Honestly, I Would Love To Drive Over This Bridge. And If You Watch The Video To The End You’Ll Get A Real Sense Of What That Actually Feels Like.
But Hang On A Minute, Is It Just Me Or Is There Something Weird About Those Photos? Now, I Know A Little Bit About Photography And I Keep Seeing Pictures Of This Bridge Which Look Just Kind Of Odd, And I Think I Know Why That Might Be. If You Stand At The Start Of A Long Road, It Tapers Of Into The Distance. But If You Stand A Mile Away And Look At It Through A Camera Lens And Then Zoooom Right In, The Perspective Effect Is Flattened, Because Relative To Where Your Standing The Distances In Your Picture Are Shorter.
If You Stand Actually On The Road, At The Place Your Standing The Width Will Take Up Your Who Field Of Vision, But Off In The Distance It’S Tiny. Stand On A Hill 3 Miles Away And The Start Of The Road Looks Small And The End Of The Road Maybe A Bit Smaller. Now Zoom Right In So That That Effect Fills The Picture And You Get A Really Weird Effect, Especially On An Incline Like A Bridge, Making It Look Like It’S Going Up Almost Vertically! Hence The Slightly Blurry Photos, They’Re Taken From A Long Way Away! So There We Are, I’Ve Shattered The Illusion, It’S All Just A Big Internet Trick. Or Is It? Hang On A Minute, Let’S Not Get Too Cynical Here, There Are Always Going To Be Better And More Interesting Ways To Take A Photograph, And That’S Pretty Creative, But It Doesn’T Necessarily Mean The Subject Matter Isn’T Worthy Of Note. In Fact, The Incline On The Bridge Is A Pretty Steep 6.1%, Meaning That For Every 100 Metres You Travel, You’Ll Go Up 6.1 Metres Vertically.
And Apparently There Are Services Available Especially For People Who Can’T Drive Over The Bridge, Drivers Who’Ll Drive Your Car While You Sit In The Back Covering Your Eyes! So There Clearly Is Something Rather Remarkable About The Bridge After All. Watching The Video You Can See Why It’S Called The Rollercoaster Bridge, It Has That Same Sense Of Build-Up As A Roller Coaster As It Just Goes Up And Up And Up And Up And Then Over The Top! It’S Pretty Freaky! And I Think What Really Adds To The Sense Of Height And Insecurity Is It’S So Narrow!
I Couldn’T Believe How Narrow It Was, There’S Only One Lane Of Traffic On Either Side! And Going Up Something Of Such Height With Nothing But A Sheer Drop On Either Side And Such Narrow Lanes, Up And Up And Up, It’S Quite Hypnotic, And I Can Well Understand Why Drivers Have Had Panic Attacks, Can You Imagine Being Afraid Of Heights And Coming Up On This Bridge Unawares? And Then Oooover The Top! So Have A Look At The Video And Tell Us What You Think. Has The Horror And Awesomeness Of This Bridge Been Exagerated? Or Is It In Fact A Blooming Awesome Architectural And Engineering Marvel That You Would Love The Chance To Drive Over!
Let Us Know In The Comments And Share This With Your Friends And Family Who May Have Never Seen The Amazing Ohashi Bridge.
