Yokohama Bay Bridge — The Ships That Could Not Pass Beneath

There are ships that cannot pass beneath that bridge. The Yokohama Bay Bridge — a white cable-stayed span — traces a graceful arc across the water. Stretching 860 meters in length and crossing the very gateway of Yokohama Port, the bridge opened in 1989. And yet, from the moment of its design, an unforeseen barrier was quietly written into its existence. Its clearance above the waterline: approximately 55 meters. For the great cruise ships that travel the world's oceans, this has proven an insurmountable limit. Nowhere was this more vividly felt than in March 2014, with the maiden call to Yokohama of the British ocean liner Queen Elizabeth. Measuring 294 meters in length and standing some 56.6 meters above the waterline, the vessel could not, by published specifications, pass beneath the Bay Bridge. And yet the Queen refused to surrender her claim to Yokohama's front door. In the depths of the night, at the precise hour of low tide — when the sea withdraws nearly two meters — she slipped beneath the bridge with barely a meter to spare and came to rest at Osanbashi Pier. But this act of daring could not be repeated indefinitely. In time, the Queen Elizabeth began docking instead at Daikoku Pier — a working, industrial wharf set well apart from the city's heart. The world's most celebrated passenger liner, unable to reach the center of the port that welcomed her. There is something faintly strange in that image, and something quietly sorrowful. Before the bridge was built, ships moved freely in and out of this harbor. Through the age of sail, the age of steam, and the golden era of the great ocean liners, Yokohama Port held open its arms to all that came from the sea. Yet by a gentle irony, the very bridge erected to adorn and dignify the port now stands in the way of its most magnificent guests. Beauty and constraint. Welcome and exclusion. In the elegant silhouette of the Bay Bridge, the dual nature of Yokohama — city of the sea, city of the threshold — is quietly, unmistakably reflected. At dusk, when the bridge is washed in shades of orange, its beauty is almost unbearable. But now that you know the story hidden within that beauty, perhaps the bridge appears to you just a little differently than it did before. Official name: Yokohama Bay Bridge Opened: September 27, 1989 Total length: approx. 860 m Clearance above water: approx. 55 m Structural type: Cable-stayed bridge (double-deck structure)