Akashi Kaikyō Bridge-Japan

From the first day of the human history, it seems that he is of nature to make more and more special kind of stuff. Astonishing construction became a permanent part of human nature. Technology progress creates some new amazing wonders rather than some old wonders of the world. Mega structures are now a days commonly seen almost everywhere in the world. Because of the advancement of technology and the improvement of machinery, tall sky scrapers and many other infrastructures are already made possible. Engineering wonders, such as bridges, tunnels or railways that connect cities and even countries, a spacecraft that sends man to the moon or a skyscraper built to withstand an earthquake, all have one thing in common. They are made to solve a problem and to make life easier for humankind. 

Also known as the Pearl Bridge, is a stunning sample of the modern civil engineering. Located in Japan, this bridge is the world’s largest cable bridge and there are no pillars for the supports. It has the longest central span of any suspension bridge in the world, at 1,991 meters (6,532 ft.). It was completed in 1998. The bridge links the city of Kobe on the mainland of Honshu to Iwaya on Awaji Island by crossing the busy Akashi Strait. It carries part of the Honshu-Shikoku Highway.

The Akashi Kaikyo Suspension Bridge is the longest suspension bridge in the world and it is  probably Japan’s greatest engineering feat.  It took two million workers ten years to construct the bridge, 181,000 tonnes of steel and  1.4million cubic metres of concrete. The steel cable used would circle the world seven times. It has six lanes and links the island of Awaji and the mainland city of Kobe, a distance of four  miles. The concept of building a bridge across the Akashi Straits became urgent after a disaster in  1955. A ferry carrying over one hundred children sank after colliding with another ferry, in the  busy shipping lane. One hundred and sixty eight children and adults died in the disaster. Political  pressure for a bridge increased and in 1988 construction began.

The Akashi Straits is four miles wide at the bridge site with sea depths of one hundred metres and currents averaging fourteen kmph. The Akashi Straits is one of the busiest sea lanes in the world with over a thousand ships per day travelling through it. Furthermore, the bridge is in a typhoon region in which winds can reach speeds of 290 kmph.