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¿Cómo los JAPONESES construyeron el AEROPUERTO KANSAI en el MAR?

Mar 23, 2024
More than 70% of the earth is covered by water, it is not surprising that periodically people lack land and decide to create it themselves without waiting for the grace of nature. A striking example is the artificial islands and entire archipelagos of the Persian Gulf, but Few people know that even before the appearance of the palm islands in the United Arab Emirates in Japan, an equally unique and more complex project was carried out - the Kansai International Airport in the second half of the 20th century - the extreme region located On the island of Honshu, it began to experience transportation difficulties.
c mo los japoneses construyeron el aeropuerto kansai en el mar
At that time, the Osaka airport, or Hitami as it was also called, had been operating for 20 years. It already had problems supporting traffic and it might seem that it would be easier to expand it, but it was not. located in a densely populated area buildings which already caused a lot of inconvenience to local residents the fact is that they suffered from the noise produced by aircraft engines after numerous complaints and demands from local residents the authorities were forced to establish daytime airport operations which already aggravated the traffic situation in Osaka, a new airport was needed that would operate 24 hours a day for the incipient international flights, but the problem was that there was simply no suitable flat land in the Osaka area.
c mo los japoneses construyeron el aeropuerto kansai en el mar

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Finally, a remote place was found. From the coast for the construction they chose Osaka Bay, here the planes could fly 24 hours a day, seven days a week without disturbing anyone, there was only one small problem, before the airport could be built, it had to be done on the ground or rather in An artificial island for the engineers was a step into the unknown since no one had carried out such a global project. The task was not easy. The Kansai region is prone to earthquakes that can erode the soil. Japan is also often affected by typhoons. Planners were faced with the challenge of calculating in advance how much the island could settle in the future Experts predict that the island will shrink under the weight of the airport by 5.5 and a half meters to a maximum of seven meters in the next 40 years Designers of the project they only took into account the minimum value after almost 20 years of preparing the design documents in 1987 the engineers began construction they had to create an artificial island 4 kilometers long and one kilometer wide the chosen place had an average depth of 20 meters which was not a problem.
c mo los japoneses construyeron el aeropuerto kansai en el mar
There was another important obstacle: the ground. The bottom of Osaka Bay contains a layer of soft clay with a high water content. The divers literally got stuck in this mush when working on the seabed, which made them It was practically the most unsuccessful place for a bulk island but it did not stop The Japanese since there was no other option to make The Island a reality. The engineers used an unusual way to form a stable base: metal tubes were pressed into the ground and They were filled with sand and then the tubes were filled, leaving only the sand posts that by themselves had already contributed to the reinforcement but which together with the surface layer of sand that had also been previously poured had to absorb the water from the clay soil that would be squeezed under the weight of the artificial island this had to be done on an area of ​​510 hectares a piece of land of this size can accommodate more than 700 football fields in total the engineer needed hundreds of tubes 40 centimeters in diameter to make a million sand posts 20 meters long in the ground all this did not guarantee that the island would not sink in the initial stage but sooner or later the ground would have to be strengthened and stabilized it was a unique project and nothing like it had ever been done the shape of the The Island took shape when the workers began to build a wall of 11 kilometers of stones and 48 very strong concrete blocks of rags.
c mo los japoneses construyeron el aeropuerto kansai en el mar
The wall protected the reinforced soil from erosion and served as the limit of the Island that was going to be built. Its construction lasted only two years and was carried out simultaneously to form the foundations The Japanese manufactured a huge conveyor belt 15 kilometers long the final point of the route was the self-unloading barges to obtain the necessary amount of rock the excavators had to cut down entire mountains around osaka and huave as well as on the nearby island of aguajil the result was an embankment 30 meters above sea level protected by a special wall against waves great attention was paid to the uniform compaction of the soil in the area of the runway the cranes dropped 20 tons of tamping weight from a height of 30 meters which is a mighty deal if you don't see it all all this work lasted three years and involved 10,000 workers 80 vessels and hundreds of pieces of land equipment in the end More than 180 million cubic meters of rock and earth were moved.
The largest artificial island of the time was complete, but the final result was still far away. The heart of the Island was, of course, going to be the first airport in the world built on the sea. The construction Started in 1991, Terminal 1 was designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano, known for his high-tech works to compensate for the uneven sinking of the island. 900 adjustable columns were designed to support the terminal building. Its technical condition is monitored by computers 24 hours a day. hours of the day and if somewhere there has been a contraction of the soil, the column is lifted with a jack and a metal plate is inserted under its base, as has already been said, the experts based themselves on the value of 5 and a half meters in 40 years but in the first five years the Island settled up to eight meters which indicates that the calculations were erroneous.
It was even criticized as a geological catastrophe but 10 years later, as predicted, the sedimentation rates have decreased by more than a factor of 10 and now the island does not sink more than 5 centimeters a year. Terminal 1 has been built with resistant and light materials so that it can withstand the elements. In addition, the central part has two symmetrical wings. The roof of the structure has a designed aerodynamic shape. Taking into account the local climate, there are flexible connections between the airport structure and the roof to compensate for variations in temperature and seismic activity. Once the first terminal was built, it became the longest building in the world at 1,672 meters and is still considered to be the longest building in the world today. the longest terminal, once the terrain was stabilized due to the heavy workload of the airport, it was decided to build another artificial island next to it with an additional 4 kilometer runway.
Construction began in 2003 and in 2007 the second runway was inaugurated, curiously enough. The second Island was built a few meters higher and at first the planes entered the second ramp and overcame a slight climb, however later when the second Island was settled they almost equaled in height and now the contraction of both Islands is not considered critical In 2007, along with the second runway, Terminal 2 was built on the new island and serves mainly for domestic flights. It is connected to the mainland by a bridge known as the Gate to Heaven. Its total length is 3,750 meters. Construction began in June 1987 and was completed in 1994 Just in time for the opening of the airport, the bridge is built on two levels.
On the upper floor there are six lanes for road traffic. On the lower floor there are two railway tracks. The door to heaven was built using cranes. floating in parts that were later joined together Overall the airport lived up to expectations in terms of reliability and proved to be quite resistant to the elements the first tests awaited it Shortly after its inauguration in January 1995 one of the largest earthquakes in the history of Japan in which around 6,500 people died thanks to careful design the airport was able to withstand it. In 1998 a powerful typhoon devastated Kansai thanks to the structure of the aircraft wings and the good protection of the coast the airport is Able to withstand this test in the following years, the airport located on an artificial island had to face several more attacks from the elements but managed to weather the storm with dignity.
In total, the construction of the Kansai airport cost about 20 billion dollars. huge amount and one of the most expensive projects ever carried out in Japan

kansai

can be considered the most expensive airport in the world Although the airport has suffered losses for so long it should be financially amortized sooner or later since there is no more free land in Japan

kansai

can be classified without much exaggeration as one of the best examples of human genius, it is not only surprising that the Japanese were able to create the largest artificial island of the time in apparently impossible conditions but also that they were able to build an international airport on it with a volume of passengers of 25 million, what also draws attention is that Kansai has also turned out to be a very comfortable place for passengers, as demonstrated by the awards it has received in 2021.
For example, it was classified among the 10 best airports in the world by the British consulting firm skytracks. That's all friends Don't forget to share the video if you liked it Don't forget to like or dislike it and write in the comments what you think about this project See you soon

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