Aioi Bridge was the target



Former newel post of Aioi Bridge 



Today’s Tohoku Kanto Earthquake bulletin: More than 70 aftershocks, level 4 or larger on the Japanese scale, happened so far. Those who were engaged in the critical work at the stricken nuclear power plant after the quake and local residents near the plant were tested on radiation they might have been exposed to. It was announced that they only received the low level of radiation and didn’t need treatment. The breakdown of the subjects were: 166 employees of TEPCO, five Self Defense Forces personnel, 13 riot police officers, and 193 locals.  

Hiroshima is a city of waters. Six tributaries of the Ota-gawa river flows in the shape of a rake through the city to the Seto Inland Sea. Naturally there have to be many bridges: more than 2900. Six of them survived the a-bombing and still in use. Interestingly, there were only five major bridges in castle town Hiroshima during the Edo period (1603-1868). That was one typical way of defense but at the same time that’s how authorities regulated free travel by people with the limited number of bridges.

The Aioi Bridge, the intended target for the a-bombing but 300 meters off from the actual hypocenter, barely survived the blast but was repaired and used for another 35 years or so before being replaced by the present plate girder bridge in 1983.

The T-shaped bridge, so easy to identify from the aircraft high up in the air, was an ideal target and bombardier Thomas W. Ferebee had no trouble finding it on board the B29 Superfortress Enola Gay on August 6, 1945.

Part of the roadway was heaved upward due to the blast bouncing back from the river and the hand railing on the north side fell into the water.

When first built by a wealthy family in 1878, the Aioi bridge was comprised of two dogleg wooden bridges meeting at the north corner of the delta of Nakajima-cho, a bustling urban hub in those days. The bridge was named Aioi meaning meeting and joining. Its alias was the “Toll Bridge” because people had to pay a toll to cross the bridge.

A bridge exclusively for streetcars was built upstream of the original Aioi Bridge in 1912 but was washed away in floods more than once. In 1932, a large sturdy bridge both for streetcars and other traffic was constructed. In addition, an extension was built connecting the center of the upstream bridge to the northern end of the Nakajima delta, temporarily making the whole Aioi bridge H-shaped. Later the old wooden bridges were torn down and the Aioi Bridge became T-shaped.

Former newel posts have been preserved at two locations near the bridge. One was of the original wooden bridge and easy to find: between the bridge and the A-bomb Dome. The other was of the previous one and is at the north end of the delta near Peace Clock Tower.

Part of the wrecked girder of the former Aioi Bridge is displayed in the main wing of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, where artifacts from 65 or so years back are exhibited.

This URL gives you precise information about the bridge with graphics.