DESIGN AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF YODOGAWA BRIDGE

In comparison with present truss bridge

Abstract

Yodogawa bridge is rivet-connected Petited type truss bridge carrying double railway line with single span of 540ft, truss height 80ft and weighted 1, 810ton. Here, starting from historical background, basic shape (span, height), weight and design loads are compared with other railway truss bridge for the understanding of general feature of this bridge.
On 1927, Yodogawa bridge was planned to cross the Uji river in the establishment of new railway line which would connect 2 old capitals Kyoto and Nara by the shortest route. For this crossing, initially, the combination of popular 70ft&40ft-span bridges is proposed, which is rejected by the army because the piers of the bridges interrupt the practice in the riverside. To solve this problem, single bridge spanning 540ft was proposed, which was almost double the maximum span of 300ft-standard bridge designed by T. Cooper of U. S.
Each of the design loads (Live, Impact and Wind) applied on this bridge are compared with the corresponding loads specified in the present Japanese standard. The Combined design load-value of the most important load combination case (Dead+Live+Impact Loads) is proved to be appropriate even from the standpoint of present load conditions.
After the detail inspection and planning, repair work mainly on the shoe was performed in 1983. And now, Yodogawa bridge is expected to keep working as the longest railway truss bridge of single span in Japan.