Nagoya Port Bascule Bridge (former movable bridge over the canal between Wharves 1 and 2)

A Raised Railway Bridge at Nagoya Port

The Nagoya Port Bascule Bridge (former movable bridge over the canal between Wharves 1 and 2) (名古屋港跳上橋（旧１・２号地間運河可動橋）) is a movable railway bridge built in 1927 at the Horikawa end of the canal linking the Horikawa and Nakagawa rivers in Irifune, Minato Ward, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on February 17, 1999, under registration number 23-0020.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records it as a steel bascule bridge 63.4 metres long and 4.7 metres wide. It is owned by the Nagoya Port Authority. According to Minato Ward, Nagoya, it was built to extend the harbour railway as the spinning industry grew.

Why It Was Registered

The bridge was registered as contributing to the historic landscape of the country. According to the Agency, it consists of four girder spans, one of which is a movable leaf: an overhead-counterweight bascule bridge designed and built by Yamamoto Utaro, Japan's leading designer of movable bridges.

Minato Ward explains that between the late Meiji and Taisho periods bridges moved from iron to steel and from imports to domestic production, and that by the early Showa period design, construction and materials were all fully Japanese. Movable bridges, with their complex structures, demanded particular skill, and this one, built to serve both rail and water traffic, records the modern civil engineering of its day. It is also certified as a Heritage of Industrial Modernization by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

What to Look For

According to Minato Ward, after the railway closed the leaf was preserved raised at an angle of 78 degrees. The movable span that once rose and fell for every passing ship now stands pointing at the sky.

Look also at the counterweight mounted above the girder. The Nagoya Port Authority notes that the Funami Lock, also designed by Yamamoto Utaro, survives as another historic structure of the port.

Viewing the Bridge

According to the Nagoya Port Authority, the bridge site is closed to the public, and visitors should view it from the nearby Inari Bridge. The nearest station is Nagoyako on the Meiko subway line. Enquiries go to the environment section of the Nagoya Port Authority's planning office (052-654-7856).