By TAZUKO GOTO/ Staff Writer
March 8, 2021 at 17:45 JST
The new Aso Ohashi bridge opened in Minami-Aso village in Kumamoto Prefecture on March 7. Shown in the back to right is where the old Aso Ohashi bridge collapsed. (Jun Kaneko)
MINAMI-ASO, Kumamoto Prefecture--Five years after a series of earthquakes took out the Aso Ohashi bridge here, its replacement opened on March 7, capping the reconstruction of roads severed in the disaster.
The collapse of the bridge in the April 2016 quakes dealt a serious blow to the local area as the span, part of National Route 325, is a key infrastructure connecting the prefectural capital of Kumamoto and the surrounding areas.
The new 525-meter-long Aso Ohashi bridge stands 97 meters at its highest point.
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