Kawachi Reservoir

The first-class civil construction heritage, the triggered the registration of World Cultural

The Kawachi Reservoir was constructed for the industrial water supply to Yawata

Steel Works. The dam was constructed at the Okura River and upper stream of the

dam was expanded and making the 7milion cubic metre reservoir.

Specification of the dam

・completion year : 1927

・height : 43.1 metre
・Width : 189 metre

・Water storage capacity : 7,000,000 cubic metre

・Owner : NIPPON STEEL

In the construction of the dam, the unprecedented design in the world has been applied in order

to harmonize with nature and to save the construction cost. The stones come out from the mountain

when the river was expanded have been utilized for construction of the dam.

All stones are cut into sizes and shapes by the stone technicians according to the place of use.

The large size stone were used at the main construction of the dam and the small size stones

were used for other places as per size and shape. Construction was started in 1919 and was

completed in1927 by 900 thousand total number of workers.

The only remaining lenticular truss bridge in Japan ( lens type truss bridge), located at the south

side of Kawachi Reservoir and it was designed by Hisanori Numata. This shape and color really

harmonize with nature and become a symbol of the Iron town Yahata.

General information

Address	Kawachi, Yahata-higashi-ku, Kitakyushu-city, Fukuoka-prefecture
Access	30 minutes by a vehicle from JR Kokura Station