Those people out of this world‏

Astounding Japanese Highways, Bridges & Interchanges

Japan saw most of its infrastructure bombed back to the stone age
in the final years of World War II, which makes the country's post-war
rejuvenation all the more astounding. Huge, complex public works
projects saw a concrete & steel web of highways, bridges and
interchanges blossom from the wreckage of war.

Today, shaped by
the demands of restrictive space and economic boom & bust, Japan's
hardened transportation arteries display artistic forms that go far
beyond their functions.
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(images credit: Ken Ohyama)

Above
left is the Hakozaki Junction, part of the Metropolitan Expressway in
Tokyo, and at right is the Hokko Junction in Osaka... These images
illustrate the solution engineers used when building multi-lane highway
interchanges in some of the world's most crowded cities in Japan: go vertical!

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(images credit: Ken Ohyama)

Ken
Ohyama has made it his mission to chronicle some of the more striking
Japanese roadworks in a Flickr series called Interchange and a book of
his photos available from Amazon. One of the more outstanding examples
is The Hokko Junction shown above - a part of the Hanshin Expressway
near Japan's second city, Osaka.

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Also
in Osaka is the Higashiosaka (East Osaka) Loop of the Hanshin
Expressway. The photographer' s technique gives the sweeping curve of
the roadway an almost tubular appearance:

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(images credit: Ken Ohyama)

When
engineers have space to work with, they take full advantage. This wide
field view of the Higashiosaka interchange shows the almost organic
complexity of a busy cloverleaf, resembling a living creature's
circulatory system with the vehicles acting as blood cells.

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(image credit: zvkk)

Highways upon highways... without any end in sight:

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(images credit: Andrew Yamaguchi, Sergei Mingazhev, Stassia)

One
interesting feature of Japanese elevated highways: they often run above
rivers or sea channels, using the available space above the water. Here
are some of these "highways on the sea" -

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(images credit:
takasuuuui, kokix)

The incredible Japanese road infrastructure really took off in the 1960s - check out the vintage photo on the right:

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(left image credit: FotoOleg)

Such "Bladerunner" sights are commonplace now, brimming with urban energy -

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(images credit: kokix)

By
the way, for the tricky "urban density" photography, head over to this
page... and see if you can spot something wrong with the image there.


Slipping Sideways

Some
sections of the Hanshin Expressway suffered severe damage during the
7.2 magnitude Great Hanshin Earthquake which hit the Kobe, Japan area
in January of 1995, killing over 5,500 people and costing over $200
billion.

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(image credit: AFP / Jiji Press)

On
the bright side, the affected sections of the highway did not
"pancake", as happened in the 1989 Loma Prieta quake, but instead
slipped sideways and tumbled over. Either way, one doesn't want to be
driving through a highway interchange or junction when a big quake hits!


Recession, what recession?

Public
works spending has long been the Japanese government's preferred way to
spend budget surpluses, boost employment, keep the ruling party's
supporters in the construction industry loyal, or all of the above. The
highway depicted below is one of those projects, steadily overtaking a
quiet city street like Godzilla in slow motion.

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(images credit: Cisco's Japan Blog and Snegura)

Which
came first, the highway or the building? The question is moot as both
have learned to accommodate one another.. The Hanshin Expressway takes
a shortcut through the 5th to 7th floors of Fukushima's Gate Tower
building, also known as the Bee Hive.

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(images via)

The
story goes that the original building's owner wanted to knock it down
and rebuild, but was told by city planners that the space was being
allocated to a newly planned exit of the expressway. Both sides refused
to budge, and the compromise was completed in 1992.

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(image via)

Tokyo
residents can easily avoid using the highways and expressways which
crisscross the city, thanks to one of the world's largest and most
efficient subway systems, but when traffic is light they can be a
pleasure to drive. The view can be pretty intense, as in the time-lapse
photo below:

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(image credit: Vladimir Zakharov)

Urban density in Tokyo is simply astounding:

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(image credit: Sam Graf)


The Rainbow Bridge and the
longest suspension bridge

Dark
Roasted Blend has been covering some rather fascinating bridges before.
Here are a few more - a spectacular sample from Japan. The 570 meter
(1,870 ft) long Rainbow Bridge spans the northern (inner) part of Tokyo
Bay and has been a city landmark since it opened in 1993. Two roadways,
a transit line and pedestrian walkways all use the bridge, resulting in
a seemingly chaotic tangle from certain angles.

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(images credit: Uncharted Futures and lmkuzya)

It's
at night, however, that the Rainbow Bridge comes alive with signature
color! Spotlights mounted at strategic locations bathe the bridge's
superstructure in prismatic glory. Best of all, the lighting is solar
powered with energy stored during the day powering the light show at
night:

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(image credit: Gussisaurio)

Announced
in 1969, the massive Kobe-Naruto highway route project stretches 81
kilometers to connect Japan's main island of Honshu with the much
smaller island of Shikoku to the south. The jewel in the crown is the
4-kilometer long Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, which cost $3.6 billion to build
over the ten year period between 1988 and 1998:

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(image credit: Aurelio Asiain)

Of
course, any discussion of Japanese highways wouldn't be complete
without mention of Mount Fuji. The mountain's iconic snowy peak is
visible from Tokyo - on clear days, at least - but though it's
certainly possible to reach the dormant volcano's doorstep via highway,
taking the Shinkansen bullet train is a better bet.

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(image credit: fui)