Japanese origami folding bridge

Japanese engineers have successfully tested a mobile bridge based on origami art and can be used in disaster-stricken areas.

Japan designed origami folding bridges

In the experiment, the Bridge Bridge version 4.0 was erected on the Hongo River in Fukuyama, Japan , without a pedestal. A car that has run across the bridge is easy and safe.

Picture 1 of Japanese origami folding bridge
The bridge can be ready for transportation through just one hour of installation.(Photo: Hiroshima University.)

Introduced at a manufacturing conference in early July, the bridge bears many resemblance to the organ, which can be extended and removed when needed. Engineers have applied construction technology with structures and mechanisms to act as a scissors, allowing bridges and lanes to expand simultaneously.

Mobile Bridge 4.0 can be available for transport vehicles after just one hour of installation and compact enough to carry on trailers. This design promises to provide a solution for emergency traffic in areas where earthquakes, floods and tsunamis occur frequently in the world.

" The bottom line is how to expand the mobile bridge. Normally, there is always a crane and a team of technicians, but this bridge is not," BBC quoted Professor Paolo Beccarelli in the Department of Structural Engineering erected at the University of Nottingham, England.

Mobile Bridge 4.0 can also be used for temporary travel while repairing existing bridges, avoiding traffic disruptions.