Longest Suspension Bridge Opens
The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge links Kobe with Awaji Island.
here. The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, the world's longest suspension bridge, opened April 5, linking Kobe with Awaji Island in western Japan. The 3,911-meter-long bridge is part of the 89km Kobe-Awaji-Naruto Expressway that directly connects the islands of Honshu and Shikoku across the swirling Akashi Straits. Its 1,991-meter center span exceeds the 1,410-meter center span of Britain's Humber Bridge, the previous record-holder. A total of 200,000 tons of ultrahigh-strength steel was used in the construction of the huge suspension bridge, which took ten years to complete. It was built to withstand an 8.5 magnitude earthquake by combining the most sophisticated technologies available from the steel and related engineering and construction industries. As a participant in the joint ventures to build the bridge, NKK was responsible for several major parts of the project, including construction of the 70-meter-high and 80-meter-outside-diameter cylindrical steel caisson for the second pier main tower foundation on the Kobe side, the 330-meter-high third pier main tower on the Awaji side, bridge girder decks and the observatory lounge/promenade facilities built on the Kobe side.
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