Currently the longest spanning suspension bridge in the world, the Akashi Kaiko Bridge stretches 12,828 feet across the Akashi Strait to link the city of Kobe with Awaji-shima Island. Its two towers , at 928 feet, soar higher than any other bridge towers in the world. Click photo for larger image. The Akashi Strait is a busy shipping port, so engineers had to design a bridge that would not block shipping traffic. They also had to consider the weather.
Japan experiences some of the worst weather on the planet.
Gale winds whip through the Strait. Rain pours down at a rate of 57 inches per year. Hurricanes, tsunamis, and earthquakes rattle and thrash the island almost annually. They supported their bridge with a truss , or complex network of triangular braces, beneath the roadway. The open network of triangles makes the bridge very rigid , but it also allows the wind to blow right through the structure.