Longest Suspension Bridge

Longest Suspension bridge

Longest suspension bridge in the world holds three records: it is the longest, tallest, and most expensive suspension bridge ever built.

The longest suspension bridge discussed below, is located in Kobe and Awaji-shima, Japan. The cost to build the bridge was $4.3 billion. The authority who has the credit to build such a huge bridge is Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Authority.

Longest suspension bridge at the moment is Akashi Kaikyo Bridge. Japanese Engineers made wonders in 1998 by completing Akashi Kaikyo Bridge. At the moment 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. Not only this longest suspension bridge is long but also its exceptionally tall. The two towers of this suspension bridge stand at 928 feet, which is higher than any other bridge towers in the world.

Engineers had a challenge to design the bridge like that which would not block shipping traffic of The Akashi Strait which is a busiest shipping port. They also had to bear in mind the weather conditions in Japan, because this country experiences some of the worst weather on the planet. Windstorms 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.

How did the Japanese engineers find solution to these problems in building this longest suspension bridge? 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. In addition, engineers placed 20 tuned mass dampers TMDs in each tower. The TMDs swing in the opposite direction of the wind sway. So when the wind blows the bridge in one direction, the TMDs sway in the opposite direction, effectively "balancing" the bridge and canceling out the sway. With this design, the Akashi Kaikyo can handle 180-mile-per-hour winds, and it can withstand an earthquake with a magnitude of up to 8.5.
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