Ryujin Big Suspension Bridge

The bridge crosses the Ryujin gorge above the lake held back by the Ryujin dam. It carries no traffic: it was built for people on foot, and at 375 metres between its towers it is among the longest of its kind in Japan. The deck hangs 100 metres above the water.

The whole structure measures 446 metres, of which the central span is the 375. The girder is stiffened with a truss to hold it steady against crosswinds, and the main cables are made of parallel wire; the bridge is built to stand safely in a wind of 30 metres a second, the strongest reckoned to blow here about once in a century. At each end the cables are anchored into a block of concrete, and each block takes 1,100 tonnes of pull.

Ryujin means dragon god, and the name belongs to the gorge, the river and the dam as well as the bridge. A dragon is said to have lived here, stories about it are still told, and dragons are painted on the walls at either end of the crossing.

A bungee platform hangs beneath the middle of the bridge, with a drop of up to 100 metres. At the far end stands a carillon called the bell of the wood spirit, which rings three sounds, for love, for hope and for happiness, and they carry back across the gorge.