Akashi Kaikyo

AKASHI KAIKYO
bridge
The PEARL BRIDGE
LONGEST
SUSPENSION
BRIDGE
WITH ITS
GREATEST
ENGINEERING
FEAT
SPACE IMAGE
The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge

is built over the Akashi
Strait which links the Kobe
City in Japan to Iwaya on
Awaji island.
WHY WAS THIS DESIGN CHOSEN?
Suspension bridge was the best suitable bridge type for this wide
strait.
Having only two major high supporting towers, this type of bridge
do not disturb the marine traffic.
This type of bridge is the best for considering Japan’s seismic

condition that can withstand every kind of load caused by typhoon,
earthquake or heavy traffic.
And one of the importance cause is its large span that produce
significant amount of moment.
SUSPENSION
BRIDGE
A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the
deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical
suspenders.
The suspension bridge is most suitable type for very

long – span bridge.
One of the major part of the suspension bridge is a use

of strong cables.
PHYSICAL CONDITIONS
Location of Akashi Kaikyo Bridge is a Major
Earthquake Zone.
The Akashi Strait consist of Currents of Speed

40 Km/hr.
Maximum Depth of sea is about 110 meters.
Wind Speed is 280 Km/hr.
Length of bridge is almost 4 Km, a distance

that had not yet been attempted.
Geological Profile cross the bridge is

composed of Alluvium. Diluvium and granite
from top to bottom.
PROFILE
OF BRIDGE
COMPONENTS
 TOWER FOUNDATION
 ANCHORAGE
FOUNDATION
 TOWER
 CABLES
 STIFFENING GIRDERS
1. TOWER FOUNDATION
A. Laying-Down Caisson
Method
B. Scour Protection Method

C. Under Water Concrete
D. Seismic Design
A. LAYING-DOWN
CAISSON METHOD
2P and 3P towers are laid on semi-consolidated
geology and Constructed using LAYING DOWN
CAISSON METHOD. Located in Deep sea & Fast
Tidal current [velocity - 7knots(about 3.6m/s)].
This method is adopted to reduce work on

uncertain severe marine environment.
In this method, Steel Caissons are prefabricated

in dry rocks. Then, Seabed is excavated with
GRAB BUCKET DREDGER and Steel Caissons
towed and installed in seabed during a Slack
tide.
Slack Tide – At the end of each rising and

falling tide, there is period called “SLACK TIDE”
B. SCOUR
PROTECTION
METHOD
When a Caisson is installed, accelerated
current, horse shoe eddies are generated
around the caisson.
As the Seabed is not consolidated,

Scouring was anticipated
Scouring – Erosion of soil in seabed
ANTI-SCOUR FILTER UNIT

1st Filtering layer – 2m thick – 10m around
the caisson
2nd Riprap layer – 8m thick
Installed by – FLOATING CRANES

C. UNDERWATER CONCRETE
“DESEGREGATED UNDERWATER CONCRETE” or “UNDERWATER NON DISINTEGRATION CONCRETE”
Desegregated underwater concrete = Desegregating admixture+ Superplasticizer +

ordinary concrete
Desegregating admixture - High desegregating resistance
Superplasticizer - Favorable Fluidity
Concrete - Cast into the caisson - Directly from a concrete plant mounted on a large BARGE.
As the volume of concrete is too high [2P – 3,55,000 m³; 3P – 2,70,000 m³] – Temperature stress need to be
mitigated
Cement content was reduced – Half of the water replaced by ice – To maintain temperature at cast <20ºC
Low-Heat cement = Ordinary Portland Concrete + Finely granulated blast furnace slag and fly ash
Maximum internal temperature – Kept below 50ºC

FLOATING
CONCRETE
PLANT
D.SEISMIC DESIGN
In the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, two types of earthquake were taken into
account.
A. Earthquake with a recurrent cycle of 150yr
B. Plate-Boundary-Type earthquake
A statistical estimate of the earthquake was made, using earthquake

records, in the area within 300km of the site.
The DESIGN ACCELERATION SPECTRUM is an envelope of these two

earthquakes.
In the seismic design, a dynamic interaction between the ground and the
foundation has to be considered.
In the analysis, the foundation and ground were modeled by a rigid body
model with two springs.
In the modeling, restraint of ground motion by a large foundation was

considered as “EFFECTIVE SEISMIC MOTION” and coupled vibration of the
ground and the foundation was formulated as “DYNAMIC SOIL
STIFFNESS”.
2. ANCHORAGE
FOUNDATION
Since the bridge carries a large amount of weight they need to be anchored properly so that load can
easily be transferred to the ground.
As there were no natural features such as rocks to which the cable could be anchored ,Anchorage
Foundation has to be built on the both sides of the strait.
A1 anchorage on the Kobe Side was constructed with the UNDERGROUND SLURRY WALL method.
The A4 Anchorage was constructed by a retaining wall with SPREAD FOUNDATION method.
The main bodies of the anchorages, which support the tension of the cables, were made from HIGHLY
WORKCABLE CONCRETE.
This concrete is highly fluid and needs no compacting, was developed especially for the bridge, it
greatly increased efficiency in casting and reduced construction time.
The support ground below
the anchorage, a huge
manmade foundation
circular in shape for A1,
measures 85 meters in
diameter and 63.5 meters
in depth, the LARGEST
ANCHORAGE FOUNDATION
in the world
3. TOWERS
A. Wind Resistance Design of the

Tower
B. Fabrication and Erection

of Tower
A. WIND RESISTANCE
DESIGN OF THE TOWER
Vibration can be controlled by Aerodynamic improvement of
the cross-section and by installing Damping devices.
1st solution – To improve the aerodynamic properties, Four
Corners of rectangular section was cut off
2nd solution - Tuned Mass Dampers [TMD] were installed inside
the tower shafts
TDM-1 - Each weighing 84 ton - Suppress the vibration of the
First Bending Mode of the complete bridge
TDM-2 - Each weighing 114 ton - Suppress the vibration of
the First Torsional Model.
Tuned Mass Dampers [TMDs] swing in the opposite direction
of wind sway.
So when the wind blows the bridge in one direction, the TMDs
sway in the opposite direction, effectively “Balancing” the
bridge and cancelling out the sway.
20 TMDs – 10 in each Tower
TMD is a device consisting of a mass, a spring and a damper
that is attached to the structure in order to reduce the dynamic
response of the structure. The frequency of the damper is
tuned to a particular structural frequency so that when that
frequency is excited, the damper will resonate out of face with
the structural motion. Energy is dissipated by the damper
inertia of force acting on the structure.
The damper consist of mass M2, of a spring K2 and a

damping C2. The value of M2 and K2 are chosen so that the
moving part of the damper system can be tuned properly to
the structure frequency.
B. FABRICATION AND
ERECTION OF TOWER
Tolerance at the tower top was

specified to be less than 1/5000 of the
tower height [300 m].
To achieve this vertical accuracy, in

fabrication, a tower has to be divided
into 30 blocks vertically, and each
block was further divided into three
cells.
The weight of each cell does not

exceed 160 ton [crane capacity].
Then, in the shop, three cells were
temporarily assembled into a block, and
both ends of each block were cut and
ground to the required flatness, by a large
cutting and grinding machine.
Afterward, the blocks were again

separated into three cells for shipping.
During erection, BOLT SPLICING of each

block was done after confirming a good,
full contact of the ends of the two blocks.
4. CABLES
A. High-Tensile-Strength wire
B. Cable Installation
C. Cable corrosion protection

A. HIGH TENSILE-STRENGTH WIRE
In the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, Steel wires, with Tensile Strength of
1800 MP.
Generally, the strength of steel wire can be raised by increasing the

degree of processing during wire drawing.
But an increase of strength causes a reduction of ductility, necessary

for structural wires.
As a result of the study, however, it was found that, by modification

of the metal ingredients of the wire, such as the addition of silicon,
tensile strength could be raised without loss of ductility.
Owing to the development of high-tensile-strength wires.
Reduction of steel for the bridge and large cost savings could be
obtained.
B. CABLE
INSTALLATION
In the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, a PREFABRICATED
PARALLEL WIRE STRAND METHOD was adopted to
reduce time of installation and not to disturb sea
traffic in the navigation channel.
Each Cable – 290 Strands - Each strand - 127 wires -

prefabricated in the shop
1st Cable work - Installation of PILOT rope –

Helicopter
Light, Strong rope – Polyaramid Fiber rope -

Diameter of 10mm - Weight of 0.0917kg/m - Tensile
strength of 4700kg
Cable Hauling System was erected using these ropes

for Cable Strand installation.
C.CABLE CORROSION PROTECTION
Drying System – DRY AIR INJECTION SYSTEM -

Developed for the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge.
In this system, dry air was forced inside the

cable to expel moisture or to dehumidify it.
Galvanized Steel Wires - Generally corrosion

resistant - If the humidity around them is less than
60%
The control target for the relative humidity

inside the cable was set at 40%.
This system is revolutionary idea because the

maintenance cost can be saved.
5. STIFFENING
GIRDERS
A. Wind-Resistance
Design
B. Erection
A. WIND RESISTING DESIGN
Engineers supported their bridge with a
truss or open complex network of
triangular braces, beneath the roadway.
The open network of triangles makes
bridge very rigid, but it also allows the
wind to blow right through the structure.
To reduce stiffening girder torsional
vibration caused by wind, stabilizing
plates were installed under the median
strip of the deck.
The stabilizers act to guide the wind,
reducing torsional vibration by achieving
a balance between pressures on the
bridge lower and upper surfaces.
The effect of the stabilizers was verified
B. ERECTION
 Initial erection of the stiffening
girders was done by LARGE-TRUSS-
BLOCK ERECTION METHOD, using
3500–4100 ton floating cranes, in
front of anchorages and at both sides
of towers.
 This method could be applied because

these areas are located far from the
navigation channel.
 In other places, CANTILEVER

ERECTION from both towers and from
both anchorages were carried out.
 Pre-assembled frames with a length
of 28m were lifted at the tower or
in front of the anchorage, carried to the
front of the erected girders, and
connected.
 Owing to this erection procedure, it wa

s possible not to disturb the sea traffic.
 CANTILEVER ERECTION was carried out

as follows:
A. Center span: from a tower to the
center of the strait
B. Side span: from anchorage to the
CONSTRUCTON CHALLENGES
#1 Materials– Introduction of Stronger & Lighter Stuff >/
Span Class
#2 The Suspension Bridge – Reintroducing the Rope Bridge
#3 Stronger Chains – Strength along with length
#4 Building Underwater – with Caisson
#5 Taller Tower – Using Steel
#6 Wind – To Deceiving it to Go Longer
#7 Earthquake
A NEAR When the earthquake struck Kobe, the epicenter was just 4 km
from the bridge, it was partly due to luck and partly due to the fore-
ESCAPE?
sight of the engineers that the bridge did not sustain serious
damage.
Since the roadway had not been constructed by then, the structure
did not have to suffer extensive losses that would have resulted from
the possible collapse of the bridge.
Since the tower had been constructed of steel, they were flexible to
the effect of earthquake.
Also, there were 20 shock absorbers within each tower, which

helped to keep the tower in place after the earthquake.
After the earthquake, detailed surveying showed that the tower on

the Awaji side had shifted a meter apart due to the quake.
As a result of study, even though there are small additional stresses
on the structure, and a small change in road configuration, it was
concluded that construction is possible with some modifications in
the design.
Erection was resumed soon after the decision was made, and the
3 WORLD
RECORDS
1. Worlds LONGEST SUSPENSION BRIDGE
2. Worlds HIGHEST TOWERS in a Suspension

bridge
3. Worlds MOST EXPENSIVE BRIDGE

REFERENCE
[1] Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Authority, Seismic Design Standard for Honshu-
Shikoku Bridges, 1977.3(in Japanese)
[2] Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Authority, Seismic Design Code for Akashi-Kaikyo

Bridge, 1988.3(in Japanese)
[3] Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Authority, Seismic Design Code for Rigid body
foundation of Kurushima-Kaikyo Bridge, 1990.3(in Japanese)
[4] Japan Roadway Association, Specification for Highway Bridges: Seismic

Design, 1996.12(in Japanese)
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AKASHI KAIKYO

The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge

This type of bridge is the best for considering Japan’s seismic

The suspension bridge is most suitable type for very

One of the major part of the suspension bridge is a use

The Akashi Strait consist of Currents of Speed

Maximum Depth of sea is about 110 meters.

Wind Speed is 280 Km/hr.

Length of bridge is almost 4 Km, a distance

Geological Profile cross the bridge is

B. Scour Protection Method

This method is adopted to reduce work on

In this method, Steel Caissons are prefabricated

Slack Tide – At the end of each rising and

As the Seabed is not consolidated,

Scouring – Erosion of soil in seabed

ANTI-SCOUR FILTER UNIT

Installed by – FLOATING CRANES

Desegregated underwater concrete = Desegregating admixture+ Superplasticizer +

Superplasticizer - Favorable Fluidity

Maximum internal temperature – Kept below 50ºC

A statistical estimate of the earthquake was made, using earthquake

The DESIGN ACCELERATION SPECTRUM is an envelope of these two

In the modeling, restraint of ground motion by a large foundation was

A. Wind Resistance Design of the

B. Fabrication and Erection

The damper consist of mass M2, of a spring K2 and a

Tolerance at the tower top was

To achieve this vertical accuracy, in

The weight of each cell does not

Afterward, the blocks were again

During erection, BOLT SPLICING of each

C. Cable corrosion protection

Generally, the strength of steel wire can be raised by increasing the

But an increase of strength causes a reduction of ductility, necessary

As a result of the study, however, it was found that, by modification

Owing to the development of high-tensile-strength wires.

Each Cable – 290 Strands - Each strand - 127 wires -

1st Cable work - Installation of PILOT rope –

Light, Strong rope – Polyaramid Fiber rope -

Cable Hauling System was erected using these ropes

Drying System – DRY AIR INJECTION SYSTEM -

In this system, dry air was forced inside the

Galvanized Steel Wires - Generally corrosion

The control target for the relative humidity

This system is revolutionary idea because the

 This method could be applied because

 In other places, CANTILEVER

 Owing to this erection procedure, it wa

 CANTILEVER ERECTION was carried out

#2 The Suspension Bridge – Reintroducing the Rope Bridge

#3 Stronger Chains – Strength along with length

#4 Building Underwater – with Caisson

#5 Taller Tower – Using Steel

#6 Wind – To Deceiving it to Go Longer

Also, there were 20 shock absorbers within each tower, which

After the earthquake, detailed surveying showed that the tower on

2. Worlds HIGHEST TOWERS in a Suspension

3. Worlds MOST EXPENSIVE BRIDGE