When we are driving along the road, there may be some things that concern us as far as safety is concerned but for the most part, we know that we are grounded and will remain on the ground. That is, of course, unless you happen to be suspended above the ground as you are traveling across a bridge. Perhaps you have one that you have to drive across regularly on your way to and from work or there may be a large bridge that you traveled while you were on vacation.
Some people are able to go across a bridge without any real problem but others are petrified of doing so. Some bridges are even so terrifyingly high that there are people who offer a service to drive your car across the bridge for you while you sit with your eyes closed in the passenger seat. This can make it convenient, but it doesn’t stop the fact that the bridge is just too scary for you to do on your own.
There are always going to be frightening bridges but I’m sure that none of them are going to compare to the one that you saw in the picture before you came to this page. It’s a bridge that is about as scary looking as possible.
It is known as the “Roller Coaster Bridge” because of its unique construction. It is actually the ‘Eshima Ohashi’ bridge, located in Sakaiminato Japan. The river that it spans has a lot of boat traffic and they needed to make sure that the boats were able to continue without interference from the vehicular traffic. The bridge had to be tall enough so that even the largest boats would go underneath it easily.
This is an engineering marvel and it is designed so that drivers can go up and down a very steep hill before they end up doing the same thing on the other side of the bridge.
When you look at the picture, you can imagine how your stomach would feel if you were driving across it. Even though it is terrifying looking in pictures, however, it is still an engineering beauty. The structure has a maximum slope of 6.1%, so for every 100 feet you travel horizontally, you are going up or down 6.1 feet vertically.
The local government says there’s nothing to be concerned about because this bridge is safe for all vehicles. Even though it seems to be incredible, it’s true and no accidents have occurred on the bridge as of yet. It even serves as a tourist attraction.
The Roller Coaster Bridge is in the top 24 tourist attractions within the city and people come from everywhere to drive over it. It’s a unique experience, even though it may be a little frightening.
Even though it may look frightening, everybody is confident that the bridge is safe. People continue to debate if they would drive on the bridge or not with some of them saying that they wouldn’t have a problem doing so. Others just say that they won’t be going to Japan anyway.
It doesn’t matter which side of the bridge you are on, watching the cars going up and down the steep slope is a thrill. It may even make you want to try it for yourself.
You can see more of the roller coaster bridge in this video: