Kurushima Kaikyo Bridge

The world's first triple suspension bridge system, completed in May 1999 as the Shikoku gateway of the Nishiseto Expressway (Shimanami Kaido). Three successive suspension bridges span 4,105 metres in total, connecting Ōshima Island to Imabari City across the powerful currents of the Kurushima Strait.

Use

Bridge

Area

Imabari City, Ehime

Completed

1999

Height

178 m

Developer

Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Expressway Company

The World’s First Triple Suspension Bridge

At the Shikoku end of the Shimanami Kaido scenic expressway, three suspension bridges follow one another in an unbroken chain across the Kurushima Strait. Kurushima Kaikyo Bridge, which opened on 1 May 1999, is the world’s first triple suspension bridge — three distinct spans (with main spans of 600 m, 1,020 m, and 1,030 m respectively) sharing a common alignment over 4,105 metres from Ōshima Island to Imabari City’s northern interchange. The highest towers reach approximately 178 metres above sea level.

The Kurushima Strait has been notorious for centuries as one of the most treacherous passages in the Seto Inland Sea. At spring tide the current can exceed ten knots (about 18.5 km/h), demanding exceptional hydraulic engineering for the bridge foundations. Six towers across the three bridges, plus four anchorage blocks, distribute the forces over a system designed to withstand the strait’s relentless tidal energy. Construction took roughly eleven years from the 1988 groundbreaking to the 1999 opening.

Cyclists, Walkers, and a Strait-Top Panorama

The Kurushima Kaikyo Bridge stands out among the Shimanami Kaido’s seven crossings for the quality of its dedicated cycling and pedestrian lanes. Fixed to the lower structure of each bridge section, the lanes descend via ramps to both shorelines, forming a continuous route that cyclists can ride without stopping. Hovering over the swirling tidal currents below, the bridge offers what many international cyclists regard as the finest stretch of the entire Shimanami Kaido route.

The bridge forms part of the same expressway system as the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge and the Seto Ohashi Bridge, operated by the Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Expressway Company. Of the three Honshu-Shikoku crossing routes, the Shimanami Kaido is the only one with a continuous path for cyclists and pedestrians — a distinction that has made Imabari a global cycling destination.

Summary

Opened in May 1999, Kurushima Kaikyo Bridge links Ōshima Island to Imabari, Ehime, across one of the Seto Inland Sea’s fiercest channels. Its world-first triple-suspension design stretches 4,105 metres in total, with the tallest towers reaching 178 m. For anyone travelling the Shimanami Kaido — by car, bicycle, or on foot — this bridge is the dramatic finale, its views of island-dotted sea and churning tidal currents unlike anything else in Japan.