Kansai International Airport (KIX) — celebrated for its engineering precision and seamless efficiency (Japan’s Kansai Airport) — is grappling with a daunting challenge: it’s slowly sinking into the soft, clay-rich seabed it was built upon.
What Happened?
- Inaugurated in 1994 as a solution to congestion at Osaka’s older airport, KIX was built on a man-made island.
- Its original island has sunk roughly 12.5 feet over three decades, while its second, expanded island has dropped a staggering 57 feet since landfill work began.
- In the past year alone, subsidence measured 21 cm across 54 points on the second island.
Why It Happened?
- The site rests on 20 meters of soft alluvial clay, making it prone to compressing under the weight of its massive structure.
- Despite using advanced engineering techniques – like 2.2 million vertical drains, 200 million cubic meters of landfill, and 48,000 tetrapods – the subsidence has been far more significant than anticipated.
- The airport was severely impacted in 2018 when Typhoon Jebi caused a storm surge that flooded its basement-level disaster center, cutting power and stranding 5,000 people for over 24 hours.
What’s Expected?
- According to Hiroo Ichikawa, professor emeritus of urban planning, the sinking rate has slowed to under 10 cm (4 inches) per year and is now manageable.
- Authorities have invested over $150 million in raising sea walls and reinforcing the site.
- Similar airports (Japan’s Kansai Airport), like Centrair Airport in Nagoya, have learned from KIX’s challenges. Centrair has experienced far less subsidence and was named the world’s best regional airport for the 11th year in a row.
- “It’s a valuable learning experience,” said Ichikawa, “and a reminder that when engineering meets nature, cost and resilience become the ultimate test.”
In short: Kansai Airport may be sinking, but thanks to ongoing engineering efforts and lessons learned, it’s holding its own – for now.
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