Aesthetic Design of Odawara Port Bridge

Abstract

The Odawara Port Bridge is located at the mouth of Odawara Port. Selecting a bridge type that symbolized the entire project and blended well with the surrounding area was critical. To achieve this, an extra-dosed prestressed concrete box girder with a main span of 122 m was selected. Construction of this bridge type is the first in the world. Special characteristics of this bridge type are a lower tower height than that of a cable-stayed bridge, the use of a saddle at the top of the towers, and the incorporation of epoxy-coated strands for diagonal cables. The design of the various sections of the bridge was achieved by integrating the characteristic shape of the towers with cable profiles while establishing horizontal continuity with the main girder. As a result of the integration process, the following design objectives were adopted: (a) constant main girder depth; (b) inverted trapezoidal main girder cross section; (c) towers without a connecting beam at the top; (d) a fan-shaped saddle; (e) compact cable vibration dampers; (f) graded metallic coloring of cables; (g) integrated steel railing and road surface lighting; (h) nighttime bridge lighting, and (i) encased drainage pipes.