A Study of Engineering Technology and Distribution of Oblique Arch Bridges in Railways of Kansai District

Abstract

Arch bridges built with bricks in Meiji or Taisyo Era were mainly constructed to pass an aqueduct or a road under railway track. We investigated the present state of these old arch bridges in Kansai district and discovered that some of them are spiral brickworks. We recognized, however, this unique structure only in oblique arch bridges. Meanwhile through literature survey on arch bridges constructed in those days, we identified this structure as " Syakakyo " as oblique arch bridges were called in Japanese, which was an engineering technology for construction of an arch bridge as skew to the track direction. In this study, we make clear the designing and working of " Syakakyo ", and reveal the relation between theory and practice of this technology.