The Aomori Bay Bridge is the longest bridge in the city of Aomori at 1219 meters. It's the second longest bridge in Aomori Prefecture after the 1323.7 meter Hachinohe Ōhashi Bridge. Previously the longest bridge in Aomori City was the 993.9 meterAomori West Bypass overpass, it's now the third longest bridge in Aomori Prefecture. Emphasis was placed on the aesthetics of the bridge, causing the total cost of construction to come to approximately 27 billion yen in comparison to only ¥8.9 billion for the longer Hachinohe Ōhashi Bridge. An example of the emphasis on the bridge's appearance is the emblazoning of the letter "A", for "Aomori", at various places such as the base of the bridge and in the shape of the suspension cables. The use of the letter "A" continues on from the nearby Aomori Prefecture Sightseeing Products Mansion, or ASPAM Building, which is built in the shape of a triangle so that it would look like the initial "A". The bridge's main towers are made from high strength concrete. In response to the bridge's long standing problems with ice in the winter months, a plan was made to lay pipes circulating sea water under the road surface to melt the ice. However, due to problems related to the cost and construction time, only one section was able to be completed. As yet there are no indications of when the system will be implemented over the remainder of the bridge as originally planned. Even so, since the installation of the system the number of traffic accidents has drastically decreased.
Development
1982 – Project created
1985 – Construction begins on the bridge.
1992 – July – Tentatively, two lanes are opened for traffic. The project receives the Doboku Gakkai Tanaka Award presented by the Japan Society of Civil Engineers for outstanding bridge construction projects.
1994 – July – All four lanes are opened for traffic.
2004 – December - De-icing systems begin being used on 442 meters of the downhill part of the Okidate side of the bridge.
2006 – February – De-icing systems begin being used on 138 meters near the intersection of the Hon-machi side. 253 meters of de-icing systems are planned to begin being used from the Hon-machi side to the Okidate side during the winter of 2006.
