Generalitat de Catalunya

Departament d’Educació
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Task 1: THE AKASHI-KAIKYO SUSPENSION BRIDGE ( JAPAN )

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.

The construction of a suspension bridge involves the use of two main cables stretching between two
towers. The roadway beneath these is suspended by more cables. To stop the towers, roadway and
cables collapsing, they are held at either end by large anchor blocks (the Akashi anchor blocks weigh
350 000 tonnes). In the case of the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge, suspension bridge technology was pushed
to the limit.

The Japanese designers and engineers tested their designs by

building complex models. These were tested in wind tunnels which
helped them refine the design so that the bridge could cope with
severe weather and typhoon conditions. The photograph opposite
shows 40 metre long model, set up for a variety of scientific tests.

After vigorous testing had taken place, construction of the real

bridge could begin.
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Departament d’Educació
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The two towers stand on two large circular foundations. The

moulds for the two foundations were built in dry dock
weighing 15 000 tonnes and 60 metres in height. In March
1989 a major stage of construction was reached with the
moulds for the foundations to the towers being towed out to
their positions in the sea by numerous tugs. When in
position the moulds were flooded with two hundred and
fifty million litres of water, taking eight hours to complete.
By the time the moulds were full, they were resting on the
sea bed.

Each of the two foundations were filled with 265 000 cubic
metres of concrete. However, ordinary concrete does not
mix with water and so the Japanese had to develop special
concrete which was capable of mixing with sea water.

In 1989 work on the two towers began. Each is nearly as

high as the Eiffel Tower and is designed to have a two
hundred year lifespan. The towers are 283 metres in height
and if the foundations are included, this adds a further 60
metres.

Each tower is made up of 90 sections and they were built

with absolute precision as the design allowed only a 25mm
offset at the top. In order to achieve this level of accuracy
each of the blocks were ‘surface ground’ to a precise finish.
700 000 bolts were used to fix each of the towers together.
Each tower is designed to flex / move in storm force
conditions. They and even have a special mechanism that
counteracts and dampens movement.
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Departament d’Educació
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When the towers were completed a temporary

cable was stretched between both and a wire
mesh gangway built so that workers could start
construction of the main cables. This temporary
gangway can be seen in the photograph to the
right. Workers and machinery pulled the main
cables from one tower to the other.

Once the main cables and the vertical cables

were in position the deck / roadway was fixed
hanging below them. This work took place in
1994. Large purpose built cranes were used to
lift the sections, 4000 tonnes each, were bolted
into position, one after another. 290 sections
make up the entire bridge.

The photographs to the right show the cranes in

operation and the deck as it was fixed in
position, section by section.

Each section has a triangulated form. This

means that weight is kept to a minimum and yet
each section has maximum strength.

THE DECK / ROADWAY NEARING COMPLETION

The final section of the deck was bolted in position in September 1998 and the bridge was opened to
the public on the 5th of April of the same year.
Generalitat de Catalunya
Departament d’Educació
Institut Banús Name: Course/Group: