It is a fact that during the natural disasters like earthquakes and floods, bridges are badly damaged or destroyed as a result land access to those areas, as well as, evacuation of the effected people is often at stake. Engineers have already come up for solutions in such situations to keep the life line intact but this new bridge design from a research team at Hiroshima University would really blow you away. As it is claimed to be the fastest, lightest, the strongest and most easily deployable design in such situations.
Dr. Ichiro Ario heads the research team behind this design which takes its inspiration from Origami (Japanese art of folded paper). This new bridge is named as Mobile Bridge Version 4.0 (MB4.0).
In order to move MB4.0 from one place to another place, the bridge is first contracted and then put on a trailer. When the trailer reaches the site of deployment, the bridge can be installed on ground and then spread out just like a scissor and vehicles can pass over it.
The installation of the bridge requires no construction or foundation, making it cost effective. It only requires an hour to step up the bridge. Actually, only five minutes are required to fold out the bridge once it is setup. This fact was demonstrated in a symposium held by Japan Society of Civil Engineers. Once bridge was setup at the Hongo River, it was able to pass cars on it. The team of Dr Ichiro is constantly working to improve the design if the bridge to increase its life and reliability.