The only airport built on two artificial islands is sinking rapidly

If we talk about Kansai International Airport, In Osaka (Japan), we will do it with one of the constructions that has possibly given the worst results in recent decades. This is because artificial islands have been built Over Osaka Bay, Their collapse began much earlier than was calculated by engineers.

this airport It was inaugurated in 1994 After a titanic operation in which engineers had to make countless calculations and carry out countless procedures to build the airport About these two islands.But something did not happen as it should have happened or as they had predicted.

A good example of this is the fact that its construction was estimated to cost around eight million dollars, But in 2008 it had already exceeded 20 billion Only in repairs, improvements and modifications.

But before we get to the story, we need to explain why. The Japanese Ministry of Transport decided to build The airport is on these two artificial islands rather than on the mainland.

The answer is simple: The airport in Osaka was a devastating area for thousands of citizens Those who lived very close to it and were bothered by the noise generated by flying planes filed several lawsuits, which they won and cost the airport management huge amounts of money.

In view of this problem it was decided build another on the said islands, But something soon began to fail: the islands began to sink at a much faster rate than engineers had predicted. From 1994 to 2024, they have sunk by 12 meters

Despite this, the airport has been in great demand, such as in 2016, when it was used for up to 26 million people, It thus joined the list of the 30 most heavily used airports in Asia, in addition to being considered one of the civil engineering monuments of the millennium. American Society of Civil Engineers.

But this merit and international recognition did not serve to fight against nature, which had prepared a cruel and unexpected fate for the airport with the collapse of the islands, which began to sink dangerously, and by extension the engineers who survived: that each one sinks at a different rate.

According to the plan and calculations of the planners, the islands will be settled gradually They will become stable 50 years after construction is completed Certainly about five metres above sea level, the estimate is that at that height the islands will not sink. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Kansai will be completely submerged in water in the year 2056

And just five years later the first island was already at this level, so the calculations had to be done again, and currently it is believed thatBoth islands will be completely submerged by the year 2056 below sea level.

This was a huge surprise to everyone involved in the project, and in the words of Kansai Airports’ communications director, It was impossible for engineers to get confused with such a difference in years in his estimates, although reality indicated that, in fact, the calculations were clearly wrong.

Now, Kansai Airport is operating normally But the reality is that no one can make safe predictions, so its future is uncertain and only nature will tell how long the airport can remain operational and how long the islands can stand.

In addition, currently Kansai Airport is a tourist destination And is chosen by millions of people who visit Osaka not only because of the attractiveness of the islands, but also because of the airport, which is extremely modern and has a very unusual appearance.