The is a

suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...

on the

Kobe-Awaji-Naruto Expressway The is a tolled expressway that connects Hyōgo and Tokushima prefectures in Japan by crossings of the Akashi Strait and Naruto Strait. Built between 1970 and 1998, it is one of the three routes of the Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Expressway Company ...

connecting

Minamiawaji, Hyogo is a city in the southern part of Awaji Island in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 45,489 kn 19856 households, and a population density of 200 persons per km².The total area of the city is . Geography The c ...

on Awaji Island with

Naruto, Tokushima is a city located in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 54,989 in 26,206 households and a population density of 410 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Naruto is located in the northea ...

on Ōge Island,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Completed in 1985, it has a main span of . Although it is one of the largest bridges in the world, it is dwarfed by the

Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge The is a suspension bridge which links the city of Kobe on the Japanese island of Honshu to Iwaya on Awaji Island. It is part of the Kobe-Awaji-Naruto Expressway, and crosses the busy and turbulent Akashi Strait (''Akashi Kaikyō'' in Japanese ...

, which is on the same route. In 2004, 6.8 million cars and trucks crossed this bridge, translating into a daily average of about 18,600. The bridge is complemented by the Konaruto Bridge ("Small Naruto Bridge") and

Muya Bridge Muya may refer to: Geography *Muya language, Tibetan regions of China * Muya Station (撫養駅, Muya-eki) Naruto, Japan *Muya, Democratic Republic of the Congo, village *Muya Wayin (Quechua "garden house") mountain * Muya (river) (Russian: Му� ...

between Ōge Island and

Shikoku is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. It is long and between wide. It has a population of 3.8 million (, 3.1%). It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's ancient names include ''Iyo-no-futana-shima'' (), '' ...

. When the bridge was built, space was left for the proposed Shikoku Shinkansen; however, no progress has been made on the train line, so the space intended originally for the bullet trains is used as an observatory to see the whirlpools beneath the bridge.

Naruto Whirlpools

Recurring whirlpools known as the

Naruto whirlpools The are tidal whirlpools in the Naruto Strait, a channel between Naruto in Tokushima and Awaji Island in Hyōgo, Japan. The strait between Naruto and Awaji island has a width of about . The strait is one of the connections between the Pacific ...

are located below the bridge, caused by tidal currents between the

Seto Inland Sea The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osaka ...

and the Pacific Ocean passing over undersea ridges under the Span, causing very strong

eddy currents Eddy currents (also called Foucault's currents) are loops of electrical current induced within conductors by a changing magnetic field in the conductor according to Faraday's law of induction or by the relative motion of a conductor in a magn ...

, some of which make large, deep whirlpools. The bridge has a tourist attraction built into the south side anchor—the Uzunomichi WalkwayWelcome! Shikoku Web Site' Naruto Whirlpools English Page
/ref>—an enclosed walkway out to the south tower to allow visitors to view the swirls through side and floor windows, best seen during low tide. Tourist boats and other vessels circle the towers, allowing visitors to actually see the depth of the whirlpools up close, while the view from the bridge observatory lets visitors see the pattern created by the eddy currents extending out for quite a distance.

References

External links

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Suspension bridges in Japan Bridges completed in 1985 Naruto, Tokushima {{Japan-bridge-struct-stub