Great Seto Bridge: Encyclopedia II - Great Seto Bridge - History

Great Seto Bridge - History

The bridge's history dates back to 1889 when a member of the Prefectural Parliament Okubo Jinnojo 大久保じん之丞 (1849-1891) suggested the idea of a Seto Ohashi Bridge. Okubo Jinnojo was born in a remote village of West Sanuki. At 23, Jinnojo became a village official. He said: "The 4 provinces of Shikoku are like so many remote islands. If united by roads, they will be much better off, enjoying the benefits of increased transportation and easier communication with each other." He envisioned and worked on several major road projects. He aired his idea for the Bridge in a speech made at the opening ceremony of the first railway in Shikoku between Marugame and Kotohira. While it took a century for his vision to become a reality, another of his ideas, mentioned in a drinking song he composed, was accomplished twenty years sooner:

The bridge idea lay dormant for about sixty years. In 1955, after 171 lives were lost when a ferry wrecked in dense fog off Takamatsu, a safer crossing was deemed necessary. By 1959 meetings were held to promote building the bridge. Scientists began investigations shortly after, and in 1970 the Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Construction Authority was inaugurated. Work was postponed by the "oil shock" of 1973. In 1978 the Environment Assessment Report was published and construction got underway. The project took ten years to complete at a cost of $7 billion. 2,000 construction companies and about 13 million workers were employed. Although nets, ropes and other safety measures were employed, the lives of 13 workers were lost during the 10 years of construction. The bridge opened for traffic on April 10, 1988.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki