By Catharine Lo
What is two and a half miles long, 102 stories tall, and opening this month? Japan's Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in the world. With a center span of 6,529 feet - a full third of a mile longer than its closest competitor - it stretches majestically from the mainland to the island of Awaji.
The estimated ¥500 billion (US$4 billion) bridge is a showcase of superior engineering. Some 2.1 million workers used helicopters and catwalks to assemble the 200,000-ton masterpiece, never interrupting the daily traffic of 1,400 ships through the Akashi Strait below.
The bridge was designed to endure tidal waves, winds of 174 mph, and earthquakes up to 8.5 on the Richter scale. This last spec was tested the hard way: when the Great Hanshin earthquake devastated Kobe in January 1995, the unfinished Akashi bridge merely shifted 43 inches.
ELECTRIC WORD
Suspension of Disbelief
