写真・構成：岩崎量示
The English translation follows after the Japanese text.
〈まだ橋脚は氷の下に〉
3年前の今日、2022年3月17日。糠平湖の水位が高かったこの年、タウシュベツ川橋梁の橋脚は下のほうがまだ氷の下に隠れていた。
水位が高いとはいえ、3月半ばにもなると音更川の流れが氷の下から現れてくる。すでに川の黒い水面が雪原に開けつつあった。
水没した状態で冬を迎えていたタウシュベツ川橋梁の上には、分厚い氷が乗ったまま。その重さや、水位が下がる際に掛かる圧力を考えると、とうてい橋がこの先長く保つことはないように思われた。
もっとも、結局3年後の2025年になった今でも橋は姿を保っている。
Three years ago today, on March 17, 2022, the Taushubetsu Bridge was still partially hidden under the ice because Lake Nukabira’s water level was unusually high that winter. Even so, by mid-March, the Otofuke River had already begun showing through the melting ice, creating dark patches of open water across the snowy lake.
The bridge had spent most of the winter submerged, and there was still a thick layer of ice stuck on top of it. Considering the sheer weight of that ice—and the pressure on the structure when the water level drops—I really didn’t think the bridge would last much longer.
Yet, here we are in 2025, and somehow the Taushubetsu Bridge is still standing. It’s an oddly persistent piece of concrete that keeps defying the expectations of everyone who thought it would collapse by now.
Ryoji Iwasaki