{"id":1787,"date":"2011-06-01T21:39:47","date_gmt":"2011-06-01T12:39:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2011-06-01\/1787"},"modified":"2011-06-01T21:39:47","modified_gmt":"2011-06-01T12:39:47","slug":"while-crossing-the-great-seto-bridge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2011-06-01\/1787","title":{"rendered":"While Crossing the Great Seto Bridge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
\nNOTE<\/b>: Images with an icon next to them have been artificially shrunk to better fit your screen; click the icon to restore them, in place, to their regular size.\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/16, ISO 900 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nJust Checking the Light<\/span>\nwith the 1,723-meter Minami Bisan-Seto Bridge<\/a> in the background\nbetween Honshu and Shikoku, Japan\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n

On our short trip to\nImabari<\/a> a couple<\/span> of months ago, after leaving the oddly-interesting Towel\nMuseum<\/a> we made our way back to Kyoto via the Great Seto Bridge, the\ncollective name for a bunch<\/span> of large double-decker (cars on top, trains\nbelow) bridges that span about six miles of the Seto Inland Sea between\nShikoku and Honshu, the smallest and largest of the four islands that make\nup the bulk of Japan.<\/p>\n\n

The route we took on the outward leg of the trip crossed to Shikoku via\nthe much longer Shimanami Kaido, hopscotching over a bunch<\/span> of fairly large\nislands for 30 miles, but today's series of bridges had only one island big\nenough for anything more than a pier,<\/span> and on it was a small<\/span> rest stop.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/4, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSuspension Cable Cross Section<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Anthony checked out the cross section for one of the suspension cables\nfor one of\nthe bridges<\/a>, and was amazed as I explained<\/span> how it all worked. The wire bundles<\/span> are an even meter thick, with 29,718 individual strands each a\nfifth<\/span> of an inch thick.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nStats on the Bridge Cable<\/span>\nfor one of the five bridges that make up the cross-water route\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/11, ISO 900 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nStrand Closeup<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The suspension cable for this particular bridge runs 1,660 meters (a\nhair<\/span> over a mile<\/span>), so the strands in the pair of cables that make up that\nspan, if laid end to end, would run more than 61,000 miles. That's a lot<\/span> of\nwire.<\/p>\n\n

(That's a lot of wire, but it's nothing compared to the cable for the\nthird route across this particular sea, the Akashi Straights\nBridge<\/a> that I posted<\/span> about in 2008, whose cable strands laid end to end\nwould reach almost 190,000 miles.)<\/p>\n\n

On a national holiday this rest area is filled to capacity, but it was almost empty while we were there,\nwhich was nice. This couple was enjoying the sights with their dog...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>4000 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSunset Approaches<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The day was extremely hazy with the kosa<\/i> airborne sand I talked<\/span> about in\n“Misty Evening in Rural Japan<\/a>”\nand\n“Descending Into a Volcanic<\/span> Crater<\/a>”, so the approaching sunset\ntook on an odd color.<\/p>\n\n

Futzing around with these photos in Lightroom, I ended<\/span> up with a stark<\/span> B&W version of one of these that I sort<\/span> of like...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>4000 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1000 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nPath<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 500mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/16, ISO 2000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nAmerican Ninja<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 240mm cropped — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>500 sec, f<\/span>\/6, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nBridge of Distinctive Character<\/span>\nclose of up a gold-painted\u300c\u6a4b\u300d(bridge) engraved in black marble\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 290mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>800 sec, f<\/span>\/6.3, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nModes of Transport<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 500mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>800 sec, f<\/span>\/6.3, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nTruck<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 500mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>800 sec, f<\/span>\/6.3, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nInter-Deck Access<\/span>\nlikely for maintenance and emergencies\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/16, ISO 320 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nLate Afternoon\nStylized<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

After a rest, we hit the road again, rising up from the island to the upper deck on a series<\/span> of flyways\nconnected by a 360<\/span>° mid-air spiral...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/14, ISO 1800 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nLoop<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

This reminded me of the several similar mid-air loops we'd seen<\/a> during\nour suspension-bridge bike\nride<\/a> the previous day, over a different<\/span> set of bridges 50 miles\naway.<\/p>\n\n\n

So, in now having taken all three routes to Shikoku in the last year\n(two routes during this trip, and last year the eastern Awaji route with\nits pair of big bridges, seen here<\/a> and here<\/a>), we've been on the\neight longest suspension bridges in Japan.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On our short trip to Imabari a couple of months ago, after leaving the oddly-interesting Towel Museum we made our way back to Kyoto via the Great Seto Bridge, the collective name for a bunch of large double-decker (cars on top, trains below) bridges that span about six miles of the Seto Inland Sea between Shikoku and Honshu, the smallest and largest of the four islands that make up the bulk of Japan.<\/p>

The route we took on the outward leg of the trip crossed to Shikoku via the much longer Shimanami Kaido, hopscotching over a bunch of fairly large [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1787"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1787"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1787\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}