Akashi-Kaikyō Bridge, Kobe, Japan
One of Japan’s greatest pieces of engineering, this bridge holds the record for bring the longest suspension bridge in the world with a total length of 3,911 m. It would take four Brooklyn Bridges to span the same distance. Opening in 1998, it took 12 years to build and it links the city of Kobe in Hyogo Prefecture to Iwaya in the Awaji Island.
Funnily enough it was never built with the intention of being the longest suspension bridge in the world but in 1995 the Kobe Earthquake hit halfway during it’s construction and consequently added an extra 3 ft which gave the bridge its record. The length of the cables used in the bridge totals 300,000 km. That’s enough to circle the earth 7.5 times.
