On my Tama River Walk (a story that I really should finish one of these days) I came across this bridge (one of many) going over the Tamagawa. Look closely at this bridge. Find it unusual in any way?

Cars don’t go over it. Neither do trains or pedestrians. No, this bridge was built so that a single pipe (carrying who knows what? water? oil? air?) could go over the river. This would be extremely strange in any other country I imagine, but in Japan the politicians and construction companies have been in each other’s pockets for decades and strange, wasteful projects have been undertaken with great regularity. I’m pretty sure this pipe (assuming it is being used at all) could have been attached to the bottom or side of the other bridge located nearby at a fraction of the cost.

Posted on June 17th, 2011 under Japan • RSS 2.0 feed • Both comments and pings are currently closed