The Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge, also known as the Pearl Bridge, is the longest sus­pen­sion bridge at 1,991 meters (6,532 feet) in the world. It spans the Akashi Strait in Japan con­nect­ing Kobe on the main­land and Iwaya on Awayi Island. The bridge took almost 12 years to build and was opened for traf­fic in 1998.

The cen­tral span was orig­i­nal­ly only 1,990 meter but the Kobe earth­quake on Jan­u­ary 17, 1995, moved the two tow­ers so that it had to be increased by 1 meter.