Tensho Bridge
Tensho Bridge
JapaneseName
Nishiusuki District, Miyazaki, Japan
470 feet high / 143 meters high
853 foot span / 260 meter span
2000
The Kokonoe "Yume" Otsurihashi suspension footbridge is the longest and highest of its type in the world. Opened in 2006, the main span of 1,280 feet (390 mtrs) surpassed the previous record holder, the Ryujin footbridge - also in Japan - which has a span of 1,230 feet (375 mtrs). Kokonoe was also Japan’s highest bridge at 568 ft. (173 mtrs) - a record it retained for 4 years until 2010 when the Hiroshima Airport arch bridge opened. Neither bridge however, is as long as the catenary suspension bridge at Sunway Lagoon Theme Park in Selangor, Malaysia with a span of 1,404 feet (428 mtrs). Switzerland’s Niouc is currently the highest footbridge in the world but is also a catenary suspension bridge with no towers. Many do not consider catenary bridges to be true suspension bridges since they have uneven, sloping decks that are often unstable.
Of course the Japanese are no strangers to high and long footbridges. Prior to Ryujin and Kokonoe, one of the country’s longest suspension footbridges was the 1984-built Teruha bridge in Aya with a tower to tower distance of 820 feet (250 mtrs). At the time Aya also held Japan’s bridge height record at 466 feet (142 mtrs). Other high footbridges in Japan include the Ueno Skybridge some 295 feet (90 mtrs) above a forested valley and the Tanise suspension bridge 177 feet (54 mtrs) high with a length of 974 feet (297 mtrs). Constructed in Totsukawa, Nara prefecture in 1954, Tanise is one of Japan’s oldest suspension footbridges and is unusual for having two separate sets of main support cables.
The name "Yume" means dreams - a representation of the people of Kokonoe and their desire to bring the people of the region together in one harmonious exchange of ideals and culture. Or something to that effect. A more simple reason to have built the bridge is for the outstanding views it offers of the Naruko-gawa gorge and its towering cliffs and waterfalls. Like any good footbridge of great height, Kokonoe has a narrow 5 foot (1.5 mtr) wide walkway that will induce many with a feeling of vertigo. Some will find this nerve racking while others will find it euphoric.
Although it no longer exists, the highest and longest tower supported suspension footbridge ever built was upstream of the massive Glen Canyon Dam over the Colorado River in the U.S. State of Arizona from 1958 to 1964 to aid worker’s during the dam’s construction. It had a height of 640 feet (195 mtrs) and a span of 1,280 feet. An accurate conversion puts the 390 meter long Kokonoe bridge span at 1,279.5276 feet - about 6 inches short of the Arizona bridge!
