World Tourism / The Longest Bridges of the World / Akashi Kaikyo Bridge
Akashi Kaikyo Bridge
The people try to reach God’s deeds and that is why they want to do something. They as if organize a competition. The building of the bridges is a competition too. The first place is awarded to those that create the longest, the most beautiful, and the most fascinating bridges. They draw the attention of the architects, of the inhabitants of the place and of the tourist. At the moment Asia is the winner when speaking about the longest bridges. They have been created in China, Japan, Denmark and The United States.
The Structure
Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, also known as the Pearl Bridge, has the longest central span ( 1991 m ). It is situated in Japan, and its construction was completed in 1998. The bridge connects the city of Kobe on the island of Honshu with the city on the island of Awaji Iwai, crossing the busy Akashi Strait. It is a part of the Honshu-Shikoku Highway. Akashi Kaikyo Bridge represents one of the key elements of the Honshu – Shiku project of bridges. Akashi Kaikyo Bridge has three spans. The central passage has a length of 1991 meters (6532 feet). The length of the bridge is 3911 m (12,831 ft). Initially, the length of the central span was only 1990 meters (6529 feet), but the Kobe earthquake on January 17, 1995,shifted the two towers and in such away it had to be increased to 1 m . The bridge was designed with a two-hinged stiffening –girder system that allows the structure to withstand wind speed up to 286 km / h, the earthquake activity up to 8.5 on the Richter scale, and harsh sea currents. The design of the bridge also contains pendulums that operate with a resonant frequency of the bridge to distribute the load. The height of the two main supporting towers is 298 m above the sea level, the bridge is able to expand due to heating up to 2 meters during the day time.
Interesting Facts
Akashi Kaikyo Bridge is lit by 1737 fires: 1084 - for the main cables, 116 - for the main tower, 405 - and 132 for beams - for the supports. The main cable uses three main colors: red, green and blue. The computer technologies offer different combinations of them. Currently, 28 combinations are used for events such as national or regional weekend, memorial days and holidays.
Records Set by the Bridge
Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge entered in Guinness Book of Records twice: as the longest suspension bridge, and for the highest bridge piers . If you have a chance to visit Japan, go and admire the bridge during the night time. You will be highly surprised to see what some human minds can invent. If you are energetic, full of life and eager to accumulate new emotions, do not wait, fly to Japan.
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It is a door to something new….
.
to something refreshing.
This is the place that gives birth to love and continuity to any relationship.
Different cultures have different traditions linked to bridges.
The Russians consider that the newlyweds should walk along a bridge as a symbol of a new period in life.
Chinese bring their children when they go the first time to the kindergarten believing that they will become honest, courageous, and always high-spirited.
The concept of the Bridge The bridge represents an artificial structure, erected over a river, lake, spilling water or any other obstacle.
It is generally built across the road or a river.
In many cases it joins two borders.
The bridge is one of the oldest engineering inventions of mankind.
The Structure of The Bridge Typically, bridges are made up of spans and supports.
Spans are used to transfer loads and the perception of their supports, they can settle the roadway, pedestrian crossing, the pipeline.
Spans are composed of supporting structures: beams, trusses, diaphragms (cross-ties) and the actual roadway slabs.
The spans are usually straightforward, but if it is necessary they are given a complex shape: spiral, ring, etc.
Forms of supports can be quite diverse.
Intermediate supports are called bulls, coastal - foundations.
Foundations are used to connect the bridge with the approach embankments.
Materials for bridges are metal (steel and aluminum alloys), natural stone, wood and rope.
Types of Bridges All the bridges can be divided from two points of view: By Application: Rail bridge Automotive bridge Metro bridge Hiking bridge Combined bridge By construction: the beam, the spacer , the combined.
Dozen of huge bridges connect different cities and countries.
Hundreds of people drive along them and do not even notice their beautiful architecture.
When we speak about the place where the greatest number of the longest bridges are situated you are going to be surprised to learn that the winner is China.
Still the longest bridge is Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge(1.
991 m) situated in Japan.
The design of the bridge is double-hinged beam system stiffness to withstand wind speeds up to 80 m / s, the seismic activity of up to 8.
5 on the Richter scale and withstand strong sea currents.
The second longest bridge is Xihoumen bridge in China (1.
650 m).
The cost of the expenses has raised to 2.
48 billion yen (approximately U.
S.
$ 300 million).
The third longest can be found in Denmark and is the Great Belt Bridge (1.
624 m).
Still the most reliable Bridge is to be found in China once again.
This is Tsing Ma Bridge(1.
377 m).
They say that it will be safe even when there are typhoons.
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