Inachus Bridge

Inachus Bridge is a pedestrian bridge with a span of 35m, designed for the city of Beppu in Kyushu. The city of Beppu has a sister city in China, named Yantai, from which Beppu has been importing the stone (granite) of good-quality for the pavement of a walkway in the city. By testing some pieces of the stone in the laboratory, it was found out that they were three times as strong as concrete in compression. The stone was then decided to be used for the deck of the bridge so as to constitute the upper chord of the bridge structure. For the lower chord, a kind of chain system was applied. Between the two elements a non-continuous series of lattice members was arrange.