Official

This basin, which spans Takahashi and Minami Takahashi, is my favorite area on the Kamejima River. In the morning, we cross Minami Takahashi while watching the sunshine while feeling the smell of the tide, and at night we cross Takahashi and go home while enjoying the night view of the illuminated area. In this blog, I would like to tell you about the history and charm of both bridges.

＊ The map was created based on the "Chuo-ku Area Map" (information board installed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Construction in March 2006) near the "Monument of the Ruins of Shinkawa".

Takahashi is the second bridge of the Kamejima River (upstream Kameshima Bridge, downstream is Minami Takahashi), which connects Shinkawa 2-chome with Hatchobori 3-chome and 4-chome, and passes through Kajibashi Street.

According to the "Masayasu Edozu", which is said to depict the town of Edo around the first year of Shobo (1644), the Soseki was already seen even though it is a famous bridge. Therefore, it is thought that it was bridged at least at that time.

It is said that the bridge name Takahashi is derived from the construction of a bridge with a high pier because ships often enter and exit near the mouth of the Kamejima River. At that time, there was no Minami Takahashi yet, so Takahashi was the first bridge on the Kamejima River.

Takahashi, along with Minato Bridge (*) over the Nihonbashi River, passed Reiganjima (currently Shinkawa 1-chome) on December 14, 1702 (Genroku 15) (1702). It is a bridge that is said to have crossed when heading to Sengakuji.

（※） There is also a theory that you crossed the Toyomi Bridge.

＊ The upper photo shows Takahashi seen from Kamejima River Park on the lower right bank. The lower left is the main pillar on the upper right bank. The lower right is the main pillar of the old bridge left in the southeastern Takahashi Children's Amusement Park on the lower left bank. The right is the main pillar of the current bridge (taken in April 2023).

History of Replacement (From 1882)

・In October 1882 (Meiji 15), it was replaced with Ren Railway Warren Truss Bridge (*). The first domestic road bridge designed by a Japanese engineer, Kaname Haraguchi.

・In February 1919, it was replaced with a triple reinforced concrete arch bridge.

・In March 1983, it was replaced with the current bridge (simple steel floor slab box girder bridge).

（※） A truss bridge is a bridge in which the bridge girder is reinforced with a truss (a triangular aggregate) and can obtain a stable structure that is not easily deformed. Depending on how the truss is assembled, there are War Lent Las and Pratt truss, and many are named after the person who devised it. War Lent Las is a truss bridge in which the truss is made up of only diagonal material and the direction of the diagonal material is alternated. On the other hand, the Pratt truss consists of a combination of diagonal material and vertical material, and the diagonal material is arranged in the shape of "reverse c" from the center to the end of the bridge.

[Bridges]

<Format> Simple steel floor slab box girder bridge

<Bridge length> 34.70ｍ

<width> 23.80ｍ

<Completion> March, 1983 (Showa 58)

Upper left) The "Iron Works Warren Truss Bridge" was designed and bridged by Haraguchi Kaname in October 1882.

The other three) "Three-link reinforced concrete arch bridge" was replaced in February 1919 (1919).

(Provided by Kyobashi, Chuo-ku Library)

You can see Takahashi from Minami Takahashi. The upper part is a photo currently produced in 1957 (provided by Kyobashi, Chuo-ku Library).

Minami Takahashi is the Kamejima River Daiichi Bridge (upstream Takahashi), which spans the mouth where the Kamejima River pours into the Sumida River, connecting Shinkawa 2-chome and Minato 1-chome.

The original building was in March 1932, but the truss used was the truss (center part) of Ryogoku Bridge (Sanren Trus Bridge) built in November 1904 (Meiji 37). It was reused as one of the reconstruction projects after the Great Kanto Earthquake. As a result, the remaining iron bridge in Tokyo is the second oldest bridge in Hachiman Bridge (*) in Tomioka, Koto-ku.

Minami Takahashi is the inhabitant of a ward Tangible Cultural Property (building) in Chuo-ku (registered on April 1, 1990), and has been selected as a civil engineering heritage recommended by the Japan Society of Civil Engineers in 2016.

On Hashizume Square on the upstream side of the right bank, there is a stone monument depicting a scene depicting Minami Takahashi in Kafu Nagai's "Shotei Nijo" (July 1934). .

I like this bridge best not only among the bridges over the Kamejima River but also among the nine bridges over the Shinkawa River. I sometimes commute across Minami-Takahashi every day, but I think it is almost a miracle that the history of the bridge of Minami-Takahashi, its retro design, and the buildings of Meiji period remain in the middle of the city during the Reiwa era.

（※） "Hachiman Bridge" was built in November 1878 as "Danjobashi" in Kaedegawa in Kyobashi Ward (currently Chuo-ku) as "Danjobashi". It was abandoned after the Great Kanto Earthquake, and was relocated to the current location in May 1929 (1929). It was designated as a National Important Cultural Property in June 1977.

＊ The upper photo shows Minami Takahashi seen from Kamejima River Park on the upper right bank. In the back, River City 21 stands high. Below is Minami Takahashi seen from Minami Takahashi Nansei Children's Amusement Park on the downstream side of the right bank. The champagne light-up is very beautiful.

[Bridges]

<Format> Downstream Simple Pratt Truss Bridge

<Bridge length> 63.1ｍ

<width> 11.0ｍ

<Completion> March, 1932 (Showa 7)

The Ryogoku Bridge was built in November 1904. This central truss has been reused for Minami Takahashi (provided by Kyobashi, Chuo-ku Library).

Lower left) Ryogokubashi bridge nameplate and bridge ornaments damaged by the Great Kanto Earthquake (Tokyo Bridge and Civil Engineering Exhibition held at Shinjuku Station West Exit Plaza Event Corner from November 21 to 24, 2015 (organized by Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Construction). It is usually displayed at the Tokyo Metropolitan Reconstruction Memorial Hall (Yokozuna, Sumida-ku). ) 。

(lower right) Minami Takahashi was introduced as a bridge before the Great Kanto Earthquake. It was written how the truss of Ryogokubashi was relocated to Minami Takahashi (exhibited at "Tokyo Bridge and Civil Engineering Exhibition" as described above.) 。

The bridge nameplate and eyebar in Minami Takahashi. One of the features of Minami-Takahashi is that eyebar (eye) with holes (eye) at both ends is used in part of the truss connected by pins (lowstring material).

The bridge name plate was discovered by chance when I tried to take a picture of eyebar on this blog. It was in a position where I could never see just by crossing the bridge casually. If I didn't write this blog as a correspondent, I wouldn't have seen it, and it was a very emotional discovery.

Upper left) Minami Takahashi seen from the upstream side of the left bank (Shinkawa 2-chome side). One week before the Fukagawa Hachiman Festival, Shimenawa was displayed at the entrance of the bridge, and the banner of "Shinkawa 2-chome Koshiichimachikai" was standing (photoed in August 2023).

Upper right) Kamejima River sluice gate seen from Minami Takahashi (form: steel single-leaf roller gate, diameter: 15m x 2 series, gate height: 8.0m, completed: 1968 (from the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Construction website). This sluice gate protects the lives of people living in the Kamejima River basin from storm surges and tsunamis.

Lower left and lower right) On the upper left bank, there is Tokufune Inari Shrine. It is originally located in the lower house of the Echizen Matsudaira family, which was originally located here, and the shrine is said to have been carved by cutting the bow of the Tokugawa family's playground. You can see the truss of Minami Takahashi behind the shrine.

Recently, I often see scenes of enjoying water sports such as SUP (sap) on the Kamejima River (this photo was taken in the direction of Takahashi from Minami Takahashi who went to work after 8:00 am in early November.) 。

It was also written in the document referred to in the second part of the series ("Measures for Activation of Waterside Use in Chuo-ku", Civil Engineering Department, Chuo-ku, April 2006), but in recent years, in Chuo-ku, The basic philosophy of "Resurrection of Chuo-ku-ku-Aiming for Chuo-ku walking with the waterside-" is being considered, and various measures are aimed at revitalizing the use of waterside use in the city. The Kamejima River is also a target of this measure, and on November 18 the other day, the Kamejima River Mizube Festival 2023 (co-hosted by the Kamejima River Nigiwai Creation Council and the River Front Research Institute) was held on the Kamejima River Green Road. Was being done. I hope that these events and activities will continue to make the Kamejima River an even more attractive place.

"9 bridges over Shinkawa" and the remaining two bridges are Chuo-ohashi Bridge and Eitai Bridge.

Last but not least, I'm always very helpful to the Kyobashi Library Regional Archives when creating blogs. This time, there was an unclear point about the year of Takahashi's replacement, and when I asked a question, I was given a quick and polite and clear answer. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you again.

[Main reference materials, quotations, etc.] ※ Some descriptions in the text

・"Chuo-ku Cultural Properties Survey Report Vol. 5, Chuo-ku Bridge / Hashizume Plaza-Chuo-ku Modern Bridge Survey-" Chuo-ku Board of Education, issued on March 2, 1998

・"Chuo-ku History Map Book [Kyobashi Hen]", Chuo Ward Kyobashi Library, issued on March 31, 1996.

・"100-year bridges-History and Story of bridges that have survived for 100 years-" Published by the Japan Society of Civil Engineers, September 10, 2014

・Takashi Ito, "Bridge of Tokyo - Waterside Urban Landscape", Kashima Publishing, September 30, 1986

・Takashi Ito "Mashibashi Tour in Hashishitacho, Tokyo-The Trigger of Former Takahashi Modern Bridge History Study", DOBOKU Gishikai Tokyo No. 48, December 2010

・Hiroshi Isohata, "Introduction to Illustrations The latest Science and Technology of Bridges," Hidekazu System, issued on July 1, 2019.