Kanmon Bridge

A 1,068-metre suspension bridge spanning the Kanmon Strait between Honshu (Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi) and Kyushu (Moji Ward, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka). Opened on 14 November 1973, it was recorded as the longest suspension bridge in Asia at the time and received the Japan Society of Civil Engineers' Tanaka Prize.

Use

Bridge

Area

Moji Ward, Kitakyushu / Shimonoseki

Completed

1973

Height

61 m

Developer

Japan Highway Public Corporation

Two Islands, One Span

On 14 November 1973, a suspension bridge with a central span of 712 metres opened across the Kanmon Strait, linking Honshu at Shimonoseki with Kyushu at Moji Ward in Kitakyushu. With a total length of 1,068 metres and a clearance height of 61 metres above the water, the Kanmon Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in Asia at the time of its opening — a record recognised with the Tanaka Prize from the Japan Society of Civil Engineers.

The Kanmon Strait had long divided Honshu from Kyushu. A railway tunnel opened in 1942 and a road tunnel followed in 1958, but the rapid growth in motor traffic through the high-growth era called for a crossing that would handle far greater volumes. The bridge answered that demand and introduced a Japanese first: prefabricated strand cable erection, in which factory-standardised bundles of wire were transported to the site and assembled in place rather than spun on-site. The technique reduced construction time and was subsequently adopted in later large-scale suspension bridge projects across Japan.

A Strait Crossing for the Long Haul

More than fifty years after opening, the Kanmon Bridge remains a critical link in Japan’s western expressway network, joining the Sanyo Expressway on the Honshu side to the Kyushu Expressway on the other. The prefectural boundary between Yamaguchi and Fukuoka runs across the bridge deck, and viewpoints at Dannoura and Mojiko on each shore draw visitors who come as much to watch the tide rushing through the narrow strait as to see the bridge itself. At 61 metres of clearance, the deck sits high enough to allow large bulk-carrier vessels to pass beneath, keeping the sea lane and the road lane in peaceful coexistence.

Summary

The Kanmon Bridge opened in 1973 as a 1,068-metre suspension bridge with a 712-metre central span and a deck clearance of 61 metres — the longest in Asia when it was built, and a pioneer of prefabricated-strand cable technology in Japan. It continues to carry the main expressway link between the two largest islands. Visitors to the Shimonoseki–Kitakyushu area can search accommodation at Rakuten Travel.