Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line

{{Infobox road

|country=JPN

|type=Expressway

|route=Tokyo Wan Aqua-Line

|alternate_name=File:JP Expressway CA.svg {{Nihongo2|{{tooltip|2=とうきょうわん|東京湾}}アクアライン}}

|map={{Maplink|zoom=9|frame=yes|plain=yes|frame-align=center|frame-width=300|frame-height=300|frame-latitude=35.45|frame-longitude=139.85|type=line|stroke-color=#cc0000|stroke-width=2}}

|map_custom=yes

|map_notes=The Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line highlighted in red

| length_mi =

| length_km =23.7

| length_round =

| length_ref =

| established =1997

| allocation = {{jct|country=JPN|Route|409}}

| direction_a =West

| terminus_a =Kawasaki Ukishima Junction
20px Shuto Expressway Bayshore Route
in Kawasaki, Kanagawa

| junction =

| direction_b =East

|section1=

|length_mi1=

|length_ref1=

|terminus_a1=

|terminus_b1=Kisarazu Interchange
{{jct|country=JPN|Exp|C4}} in
Kisarazu, Chiba

}}

{{Infobox bridge

| name = Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line

| native_name = 東京湾アクアライン

| native_name_lang = jp

| image = Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line.jpg

| image_size = 240

| alt = Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line (bridge section)

| caption = Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line (bridge section)

| official_name =

| other_name = Trans-Tokyo Bay Highway

| carries = 4 lanes of {{jct|country=JPN|National|409}}{{cite web |url=http://www.aqua-line.com/about/about_e.html |title=Developments of transportation and industries, do bring a more comfortable life to every body. |author= |date=1998 |website=Tokyo wan Aqua-line |access-date=6 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19981203163853/http://www.aqua-line.com/about/about_e.html |archive-date=3 December 1998 |url-status=dead }}

| crosses = Tokyo Bay

| locale = {{unbulleted list

|Kisarazu, Chiba

| and Umihotaru Island }}

| owner =

| maint =

| id =

| id_type =

| website =

| architect =

| designer =

| engineering =

| winner =

| contracted_designer =

| design = {{unbulleted list

|Steel box girder bridge with orthotropic deck

|Bored shield tunnel

|Artificial islands}}

| material =

| length = {{unbulleted list

|bridge: {{convert |4384|m|ft|0}}

|tunnel: {{convert |9600|m|ft|0}} }}

| width = {{convert |22.9|m|ft }}

| height =

| mainspan = {{convert |240|m|ft|0}}{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jJ3MBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA1048 |title=Handbook of International Bridge Engineering |page=1048 |author1=Nagai, Masatsugu |author2=Okui, Yoshiaki |author3=Kawai, Yutaka |author4=Yamamoto, Masaaki |author5=Saito, Kimio |editor1=Chen, Wai-Fah |editor2=Duan, Lian |chapter=23: Bridge Engineering in Japan |date=2014 |publisher=CRC Press |location=Boca Raton |isbn=978-1-4398-1030-9 |access-date=6 March 2015 }}

| spans =

| pierswater = 42{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7xCDq3CEZYYC&pg=PA75 |title=Continuous and Integral Bridges |editor1=Pritchard, B.P. |chapter=8: Design Concept of the Trans-Tokyo Bay Bridge |author1=Shioi, Y. |author2=Nakamura, S. |date=1994 |publisher=E & FN Spon |location=London |pages=75–84 |isbn=0-419-19030-9 |access-date=8 March 2015 }}

| load =

| clearance =

| below = {{convert |29|m|ft|0}}

| life =

| builder =

| fabricator = {{unbulleted list

|bridge: Yokogawa Bridge Corp.{{cite web |url=http://www.yokogawa-bridge.co.jp/english/05_steelbridges/index7.html |title=Steel Bridges: Structures in Japan |author= |website=Yokogawa Bridge Corporation |access-date=6 March 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150107200337/http://www.yokogawa-bridge.co.jp/english/05_steelbridges/index7.html |archive-date=7 January 2015 }} and JFE Engineering{{cite web |url=http://www.jfe-eng.co.jp/en/products/infrastructure/bridge/br01.html |title=Girder bridges |author= |website=JFE Engineering Corporation |access-date=6 March 2015 }}

|tunnel: }}

| begin = 1989

| complete =

| cost = {{JPY|1.4|link=yes}} trillion

| open = {{start date|1997|12|18|df=yes}}{{cite news |title=Japan opens world's longest undersea tunnel |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19971219-1.2.50.3?qt=tokyo,%20bay&q=tokyo%20bay |work=The Straits Times |agency=Reuters |date=19 December 1997}}

| inaugurated =

| named_for =

| toll =

| traffic =

| preceded =

| followed =

| heritage =

| collapsed =

| closed =

| replaces =

| coordinates = {{coord|35|27|47|N|139|52|31|E|display=inline,title}}

}}

{{Infobox tunnel

| name = Tokyo Bay Tunnel

| image = Umihotaru Parking Area Aerial Photo 20150131.jpg

| image_size = 240

| alt = Umihotaru, where the bridge transitions to tunnel

| caption = Umihotaru, where bridge transitions to tunnel

| official_name =

| other_name =

| location =

| coordinates =

| os_grid_ref =

| status = {{unbulleted list

|2 in use

|1 planned }}

| route =

| start = Umihotaru Island

| end = Ukishima, Kawasaki, Kanagawa

| owner =

| operator =

| traffic =

| character =

| toll =

| vpd =

| engineer =

| construction = Taisei{{cite web |url=http://www.taisei.co.jp/english/ir/image/ar2014/taisei_annual_2014_05.pdf |title=Taisei Corporation's Journey over 140 Years |author= |date=2014 |website=Taisei Corporation |access-date=8 March 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402143426/http://www.taisei.co.jp/english/ir/image/ar2014/taisei_annual_2014_05.pdf |archive-date=2 April 2015 }}

| length =

| lanes = 2 (unidirectional) in each of 2 tunnels

| speed =

| hielevation = sea level

| lowelevation = {{convert |-45|m|ft|0}}

| height =

| width = {{unbulleted list

|{{convert |14.1|m|ft|0}} OD

|{{convert |11.9|m|ft|0}} ID

|{{convert |10.5|m|ft|0}} roadway }}

| grade = 4%{{cite journal |doi=10.5169/seals-59019 |title=Construction of Trans-Tokyo Bay Highway |author1=Funasaki, Tsuneyoshi |author2=Yamada, Norio |author3=Izumi, Yasutaka |author4=Miki, Keizou |pages=43–48 |journal=IABSE Reports |date=1998 |volume=78 }}

| map =

| extra =

}}

The {{nihongo|Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line|{{tooltip|2=とうきょうわん|東京湾}}アクアライン|Tōkyō-wan Akua-rainKatakana-shingo-jiten, Gakken 2003, {{ISBN|4-05-301351-8}}}}, also known as the Trans-Tokyo Bay Expressway, is an expressway that is mainly made up of a bridge–tunnel combination across Tokyo Bay in Japan. It connects the city of Kawasaki in Kanagawa Prefecture with the city of Kisarazu in Chiba Prefecture, and forms part of National Route 409. With an overall length of 23.7 km, it includes a 4.4 km bridge and 9.6 km tunnel underneath the bay—the fourth-longest underwater tunnel in the world.{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_dyKGYwBE50C&pg=PA94 |title=Engineered Coasts |author=Hotta, Kenji |editor1=Chen, Jiyu |editor2=Eisma, Doeke |editor3=Hotta, Kenji |editor4=Walker, H. Jesse |date=2002 |publisher=Kluwer Academic |location=Dordrecht |isbn=1-4020-0521-0 |pages=94–95 |chapter=4: Tokyo Bay Reformation |access-date=6 March 2015 }}

Overview

An artificial island, {{nihongo|Umihotaru|{{tooltip|2=うみ|海}}ほたる|Umi-hotaru|extra="sea firefly," referring to Vargula hilgendorfii}}, marks the transition between the bridge and tunnel segments and provides a rest stop with restaurants, shops, and amusement facilities. A distinctive tower standing above the middle of the tunnel, the Kaze no Tō ({{tooltip|2=かぜ|風}}の{{tooltip|2=とう|塔}}, "the tower of wind"), supplies air to the tunnel, its ventilation system powered by the bay's almost-constant winds.

File:Tokyo_Wan_Aqua-Line.jpg

File:Tokyo_Aqua_line_bridge.jpg

The Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line shortened the drive between Chiba and Kanagawa, two important industrial areas, from 90 to 15 minutes,{{cite web |url=http://www.tollroadsnews.com/node/2126 |title=JAPAN Big New Crossings Can Use Much More Traffic | TOLLROADSnews |access-date=2009-11-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100211210213/http://www.tollroadsnews.com/node/2126 |archive-date=2010-02-11 }} and also helped cut travel time from Tokyo and Kanagawa to the seaside leisure spots of the southern Bōsō Peninsula. Before it opened, the trip entailed a 100 km journey along Tokyo Bay and pass through central Tokyo.

File:Tokyo_Bay_Aqua-Line_Highway_(30700131481).jpg

An explicit goal of the Aqua-Line was to redirect vehicular flow away from central Tokyo, but the expensive toll has meant only a limited reduction in central-Tokyo traffic.

Many highway bus services now use the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line, including lines from Tokyo Station, Yokohama Station, Kawasaki Station, Shinagawa Station, Shibuya Station, Shinjuku Station and Haneda Airport to Kisarazu, Kimitsu, Nagaura station, Ichihara, Mobara, Tōgane, Kamogawa, Katsuura and Tateyama.

History

One of the last Japanese megaprojects of the 20th century,{{cite news |title=World's longest undersea tunnel: Tokyo's costly folly? |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19971215-1.2.26.5?qt=tokyo,%20bay&q=tokyo%20bay |work=The Straits Times |agency=AFP |date=15 December 1997}} the roadway was built at a cost of the ¥1.44 trillion (US$11.2 billion) and opened on December 18, 1997 by then-Crown Prince Naruhito and then-Crown Princess Masako after 23 years of planning and nine years of construction. The roadway was conceived during the bubble economy of the late 1980s.

At opening time, the roadway had the highest toll fee in Japan {{endash}} a one-way trip costs ¥5050 or ¥334 per kilometer. Due to its expensive toll, analysts see lower traffic volume than what Japan Highway Public Corporation, the operator of the roadway, expected at 25,000 cars.{{cite news |title=World's longest submarine road opens |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/biztimes19971219-1.2.47.12.4?qt=tokyo,%20bay&q=tokyo%20bay |work=Business Times (Singapore) |agency=AFP |date=19 December 1997}}

Tolls

The cash toll for a single trip on the Aqua-Line is ¥3,140 for ordinary-size cars (¥2,510 for kei cars); however, using the ETC (electronic toll collection) system, the fare is ¥2320 (¥1860 for kei cars). The ETC toll is reduced to ¥1000 on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. In general, tolls for usage of the Aqua-Line in either direction are collected at the mainline toll plaza on the Kisarazu end.

Type of car	Toll	ETC Aqua-Line Special discount	ETC Pilot Test discount (from July 2009)
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
+Toll table of Tokyo-bay Aqua Line (Kawasaki-Ukishima Junction – Kisarazu-Kaneda Interchange)
Normal cars	3,140JPY	2,320JPY	800JPY
Midsize cars	3,770JPY	2,780JPY	960JPY
Large cars	5,190JPY	3,830JPY	1,320JPY
Specific large cars	8,640JPY	6,380JPY	2,200JPY
Kei-cars and motorcycles	2,510JPY	1,860JPY	640JPY

References

External links

File:Tokyobay-aqualine-jan7-2015.ogv

[http://www.jhnet.go.jp/aqua-line/ Japan Highways site (in Japanese)]
{{in lang|ja}} [http://www.e-nexco.co.jp/ East Nippon Expressway Company]
[http://www.driveplaza.com/etc/uturn.html NEXCO East's info regarding U-turns at Umi-hotaru (in Japanese)]
{{Structurae |id=10003751 |title=Trans-Tokyo Bay Highway |accessdate=6 March 2015 }}
{{Structurae |id=10000128 |title=Tokyo Bay Aqualine |accessdate=6 March 2015 |nolink=yes}}
{{Structurae |id=20004415 |title=Tokyo Bay Aqualine Bridge |accessdate=6 March 2015 |nolink=yes}}
{{Structurae |id=20004416 |title=Tokyo Bay Aqualine Tunnel |accessdate=6 March 2015 |nolink=yes}}
{{cite news |url=http://archive.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/12/dayintech_1218 |title=Dec. 18, 1997: 360 Seconds Under Tokyo |author=Alfred, Randy |date=18 December 2008 |newspaper=WIRED |access-date=6 March 2015 }}
{{cite journal |url=http://www.kajima.com/news_events/news_notes/pdf/v3.pdf |title=The World's Largest-Scale Marine Civil Engineering Project: The Trans-Tokyo Bay Highway |author= |journal=KAJIMA News & Notes |volume=3 |pages=2–5 |date=Autumn 1997 |access-date=6 March 2015 }}
{{cite conference |title=The Trans-Tokyo Bay Highway project - a huge project currently under construction |author1=Uchida, K |author2=Shioi, Y |author3=Hirukawa, T |author4=Tatsuoka, F |editor1=Wu, JTH |editor2=Barrett, R.K. |pages=57–87 |isbn=90-5410-343-4 |conference=Transportation Facilities Through Difficult Terrain |location=Aspen-Snowmass, Colorado |date=8–12 August 1993 }}
{{cite web |url=http://www.saitama-u.ac.jp/gris/pdf/Full%20TransTokyoBayHigyway%20PP.pdf |title=Geotechnical Engineering Aspects of Trans-Tokyo Bay Highway Project |author=Tatsuoka, F. |date=1998 |website=Saitama University |access-date=8 March 2015 }}
{{cite web |url=http://www.cobportaal.nl/Gedeelde%20documenten/GKO-101.CT.07.A.pdf |title=Trans-Tokyo Bay Highway |author= |date=c. 1990 |publisher=Trans-Tokyo Bay Highway Corporation |access-date=8 March 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402121341/http://www.cobportaal.nl/Gedeelde%20documenten/GKO-101.CT.07.A.pdf |archive-date=2 April 2015 }}