Hananukigawa No. 1 Power Station No. 3 Waterway Bridge (Megane Bridge)

The Twin Arches of the Megane Bridge

The Hananukigawa No. 1 Power Station No. 3 Waterway Bridge (花貫川第一発電所第3号水路橋), known affectionately as the Megane Bridge, is a twin-arch reinforced concrete aqueduct built in 1918 in Akiyama, Takahagi City, Ibaraki Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on November 18, 1999. Megane means spectacles. It is owned by the Tokyo Electric Generation Company.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records it as 77 m long and 2 m wide; its registration number is 08-0016. The Ibaraki Prefectural Board of Education gives its height as 22 m.

Why It Was Registered

The Megane Bridge was registered as a model of architectural form. According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, it carries part of the headrace between the Hananuki Dam and the Hananukigawa No. 1 Power Station, on two reinforced concrete arches each spanning about 26 m. Vertical members in the spandrels recall the piers of a wooden girder bridge, showing the forms of the early years when reinforced concrete was introduced to bridge building in Japan.

The Ibaraki Prefectural Board of Education explains that electric power in Takahagi began with a coal-fired plant run by Taga Electric, founded in 1912, and that the Hananukigawa No. 1 Power Station was built in 1918 to expand the business using the river's water. The water was led through a channel cut into the mountainside, and this bridge was built to carry it across a valley. It is still in use today (Ibaraki Prefecture; Tokyo Electric Generation Company).

What to Look For

The prefecture describes a central pier of stone stacked about 15 m up from the valley floor, topped in concrete, from which two arches spring toward the hillsides on either side. Because the two arches look like a pair of spectacles, the structure became known as the Megane Bridge.

Look at the vertical members lining the walls above the arches. The Agency likens them to the piers of a wooden girder bridge, a sign of the early days of reinforced concrete construction.

According to the prefecture, the bridge lies within Hanazono-Hananuki Prefectural Natural Park, surrounded by the rich natural scenery of the Hananuki Gorge.

Visiting the Megane Bridge

The Megane Bridge is part of a working power-station waterway owned by the Tokyo Electric Generation Company. No official information on visiting times, parking or viewing points could be confirmed. As it is a power facility, follow any posted guidance on access. The address is 2989 Akiyama (Itagi), Takahagi City.