Akashi- Kaikyo bridge (Pearl bridge), Japan Research Paper

Akashi- Kaikyo bridge (Pearl bridge), Japan - Research Paper Example The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge is known in Japan as the Pearl Bridge. Before the bridge became operational, the people had to mainly depend on ferry services to travel between the islands. The ferry travel was uncertain and rather dangerous as the area often experienced powerful winds, storms and typhoons, and horrible ferry mishaps did occur. Heeding to the public outrage that followed the sinking of two ferries in 1955, causing the death of 168 people - a majority of them children, the Japanese government undertook the construction of this bridge in 1988. Another reason for building the Akashi Kaikyo bridge, which was approved in the 1969 comprehensive Japan national development plan, was to promote local trade and assist the industrial development of the region. Together with another major suspension bridge namely, the Ohnaruto suspension bridge, completed in 1995 and connecting Shikoku Island with the southern end of Awaji Island, the economy of Awaji Island which is the sixth largest island in Japan, was expected to improve considerably. Although the construction of the bridge was prioritised following the ferry disaster in 1955 and feasibility studies began soon thereafter, the actual construction could only begin in 1988 as the process was a difficult one. The Akashi Strait is four kilometres wide and where bridge was proposed to be built, the sea was 110 metres deep, with tidal currents of 4.5 metres per second. The problems of bridge design related firstly to the severe weather conditions existing in the Akashi Strait, such as strong winds (wind speeds of 80 metres per second), and even typhoons.