By David Yamaguchi The North American Post
Last issue, I described how great whirlpools form at Naruto, at the east entrance to Japan’s Inland Sea, in response to tidal changes through a narrow strait. The photo reveals this phenomenon today, with something new. In the background is the Onaruto Bridge (Great Naruto Bridge) spanning Naruto Strait. It was the first of three great bridge projects that today link the Japanese mainland with the formerly remote island of Shikoku which forms the Inland Sea. The complete, two-span route from Akashi, near Osaka, to Naruto took from 1970 to 1998 to build. The accompanying span, the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, is the longest suspension bridge in the world (3,911 meters or 12,831 ft).
But if a government builds a major bridge route as a make-work project to spur a doldrum economy, will it pay for itself through tolls? Or is it a proverbial “bridge to nowhere?”
