Akashi Bridge Also known as the Pearl Bridge, it has the longest central span of any suspension bridge,[2] at 1,991 metres (6,532 ft). It is located in Japan and was completed in 1998. Before the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge was built, ferries carried passengers across the Akashi Strait in Japan. This dangerous waterway often experiences severe storms and, in 1955, two ferries sank in the strait during a storm, killing 168 people. The ensuing shock and public outrage convinced the Japanese government to develop plans for a suspension bridge to cross the strait.