Red:
Nishiseto Expressway When in 1889 the first railway in Shikoku was completed between
Marugame and
Kotohira, a member of the Prefectural Parliament, , stated in his speech at the opening ceremony: "The four provinces of Shikoku are like so many remote islands. If united by roads, they will be much better off, enjoying the benefits of increased transportation and easier communication with each other." While it took a century for this vision of a bridge across the Seto Inland Sea to become reality, another of Ōkubo's ideas, mentioned in a drinking song he composed, was accomplished twenty years sooner: :''I'll tell you, dear, don't laugh at me,'' :''a hundred years from now, I'll be seeing you '' :
flying to and from the moon in a space ship. :
Its port, let me tell you, dear, :
will be that mountaintop over there! The bridge idea lay dormant for about sixty years. In 1955, after 171 people, including 100 students from elementary and junior high schools on school trips, died when
two ferries collided in dense fog off the coast of
Takamatsu, a safer crossing was deemed necessary. By 1959, meetings were held to promote building the bridge. Scientists began investigations shortly after, and in 1970, the Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Construction Authority was inaugurated. However, work was postponed for five years by the "
1973 oil shock"; once the Environment Assessment Report was published in 1978, construction got underway. The ferry disaster also led to the creation of the
Akashi Kaikyō Bridge. The project took ten years to complete at a cost of US$7 billion; of concrete and 705,000 tons of steel were used in construction. Although nets, ropes and other safety measures were employed, 17 workers were killed during the 10 years of construction. At opening time, the one-way toll to cross the bridge was
¥ 6300. ==Constituent bridges==