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2019.08.26

“The Memorial Day of a building completion 004 ~Rainbow Bridge”

Here is the third issue for “the memorial day of a building completion”, Rainbow Bridge crossing Tokyo Bay.

This unique, beautiful bridge connecting Shibaura Pier and the Odaiba Waterfront Sub Center, was opened on August 26, 1993. This double-decked suspension bridge which is formally named “Tokyo Port Connecting Bridge” is 798m long, with a main tower height of 126m, a bridge height of 52m (both from the sea level) and the maximum span of 570m. The part of the bridge accessing the lower floor from the ordinary road on the Shibaura wharf side has a loop structure because of the acceptable incline. You can drive across Rainbow Bridge using the expressway on the upper deck or the ordinary road on the lower deck. You can also cross the bridge by taking the Yurikamome AGT (automated guide way transit) Line on the lower deck. Yurikamome also goes around this loop.

You can cross the bridge on foot too! 20 minutes’ walk from JR Tamachi Station or 6 minutes’ walk from Yurikamome Shibaura Pier Station take you to the entrance building called Shibaura Anchorage, and you can get on the elevator to the deck level. There are North Route and South Route on both sides of the lower deck where ordinary road and Yurikamome go through, and you can enjoy the dynamic panorama of Tokyo Bay.

Before the completion of this bridge, there were two choices when you go from central Tokyo to Chiba by car, driving Keiyo Road via Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway Route 7 or Shuto Expressway Bayshore Route via Route 9. Whichever route you choose, you needed to pass through Hakozaki Junction, where was frequently congested. However, by the opening of Rainbow Bridge, we became to be able to access Bayshore Route via the Route 11 from Hamasakibashi junction on the Inner Ring Route, traffic time to Chiba had been significantly reduced, and at the same time traffic jam at Hakozaki junction had been remarkably eased.

“Mariner of the Seas” came to Tokyo in April 2017, but the ship berthed at Oi Pier, not Harumi Passenger Terminal which was completed upon the 50th anniversary of the opening of Tokyo Port in 1991. It is because this luxury passenger ship with 63m height could not go through the Rainbow Bridge, which was designed considering 52m height of the symbol of a luxury cruise ship, Queen Elizabeth 2. At the same time, they could not make the bridge higher due to the aviation restrictions of Haneda Airport.

Even so, the view from Shinagawa and Shibaura across the Rainbow Bridge to Odaiba or airplanes coming and going from Haneda deserves to see, especially at night!

 

 

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