The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, connecting the city of Kobe on Japan's main island of Honshu to Awaji Island, is the longest suspension bridge in the world by central span length, a record it held from its opening in the late 1990s. It was built to complete a highway link across the Akashi Strait as part of Japan's effort to connect its islands by road, and its design had to withstand both the strong currents of the strait and Japan's exposure to major earthquakes, a concern reinforced when the nearby 1995 Kobe earthquake struck during its construction. The bridge remains a landmark of civil engineering for the scale of suspension span it achieved over deep, fast-moving water.
Facts
Completion Year SignificanceHeld the record for the longest central span of any suspension bridge in the world, at 1,991 metres, from its 1998 completion until the 2022 opening of the Çanakkale Bridge in Turkey. 1 Connections
Operated By
Source Wikipedia: Akashi Kaikyo Bridge
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Akashi Kaikyo Bridge
WikipediaLead section, third sentence (completion year)
It was completed in 1998, and at the time, was the longest central span of any suspension bridge in the world, at 1,991 metres (6,532 ft).
Lead section, fourth sentence (current ranking)
Currently, it is the second-longest, behind the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge in Turkey that was opened in March 2022.
Introduction, current role
It is part of the Kobe-Awaji-Naruto Expressway, and crosses the busy and turbulent Akashi Strait.
In Group: Suspension Bridges, Lead sentence
The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge (Japanese: 明石海峡大橋, Hepburn: Akashi Kaikyō Ōhashi) is a suspension bridge that links the city of Kobe on the Japanese island of Honshu and Iwaya, Awaji on Awaji Island.
Operated By: Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Expressway Company, Infobox: maint
Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Expressway Company Limited (JB Honshi Kōsoku)
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