The Frightening Eshima Ohashi Bridge

The Eshima Ohashi Bridge is eye-catching as it has gained renewed attention due to eye-popping photos that show it resembling a vertical Slip n’ Slide for cars while with an unusual kink in its middle. The bridge is a two-lane concrete road bridge that connects the city of Matsue in Shimane Prefecture to Sakaiminato in Tottori Prefecture, in Japan.

The Eshima Ohashi Bridge total length is 1.7 kilometers, and a width of 11.3 meters, it is the largest rigid frame bridge in Japan and the third-largest in the world. That’s credited toward its need to let ships pass underneath it with ease. In recent times, the bridge has received exceptional attention since it was used in a TV commercial for Daihatsu Motor Co.’s Tanto minivan.

The commercial shows the bridge from an angle that inflates the slope of the bridge’s approach. The view compression by a telephoto lens makes the viewer accept as true that the bridge is extremely steep. Daihatsu Motor wants you to be certain that the bridge is terrifyingly steep because it wants to show off its car’s strength.

Actually, the bridge has a pretty comfortable gradient of 6.1% on Shimane Prefecture side and 5.1% on the Tottori Prefecture side, nothing an average car can’t handle. Several websites showing that driving over the bridge is “like a roller-coaster ride” which is all media hyperbole. Fortunately for it, drivers, particularly during bad weather or brake failure, it looks can be extremely deceiving.

UNREAL! Roller Coaster-like Bridge In Japan… by roletadasanedotas