И. А. Курбасова Е. И. Силантьева

Asia's Longest Suspension Bridge
(1) The Kanmon Bridge is the longest suspension bridge in Asia. It is also the tenth longest bridge in the world. It was opened in 1973. The bridge spans a distance of more than one kilometre over the Kanmon Channel (пролив) which separates two Japanese¹ islands—Honshu² and Kyushu.³

(2) Until quite recently, the communication between the islands was by two underground tunnels, one for rail­ways and the other for road vehicles. But the ever-increas­ing volume of traffic under the Channel necessitated the erection of a bridge. A bridge-building idea was suggested in 1965 and construction work was started some years later.

(3) The deck of the bridge is supported by two towers erected on the opposite sides of the Channel and rising to a height of more than 140 metres above the surface of the water. (4) The erection of the bridge has influenced the devel­opment of the two industrial centres in the area and facil­itated the flow of tourist traffic to Kyushu.