Aomori Bay Bridge


The Aomori Bay Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge in Aomori, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. It was constructed in order to alleviate cargo ship traffic. It is a very notable part of Aomori's skyline.

Details

The Aomori Bay Bridge is the longest bridge in the city of Aomori at 1219 meters. It's the second longest bridge in Aomori Prefecture after the 1323.7 meter Hachinohe Ōhashi Bridge. Previously the longest bridge in Aomori City was the 993.9 meter Aomori West Bypass overpass, it's now the third longest bridge in Aomori Prefecture.
Emphasis was placed on the aesthetics of the bridge, causing the total cost of construction to come to approximately 27 billion yen in comparison to only ¥8.9 billion for the longer Hachinohe Ōhashi Bridge. An example of the emphasis on the bridge's appearance is the emblazoning of the letter "A", for "Aomori", at various places such as the base of the bridge and in the shape of the suspension cables. The use of the letter "A" continues on from the nearby Aomori Prefecture Sightseeing Products Mansion, or ASPAM Building, which is built in the shape of a triangle so that it would look like the initial "A".
The bridge's main towers are made from high strength concrete.
In response to the bridge's long standing problems with ice in the winter months, a plan was made to lay pipes circulating sea water under the road surface to melt the ice. However, due to problems related to the cost and construction time, only one section was able to be completed. As yet there are no indications of when the system will be implemented over the remainder of the bridge as originally planned. Even so, since the installation of the system the number of traffic accidents has drastically decreased.

Development