kansai international airport
Kansai International Airport Construct
Abstract
Kansai International Airport was born from the need to build an airport in Japan’s growing commercial center of the Kansai region. There was no area of land large enough to build on, so a plan was developed to build an island that could house the terminal and runway. Ground breaking took place in 1987, and eventually an island rose up out of the sea in Osaka Bay. Engineers knew that the island would sink due to the alluvial and dialluvial soil on the sea floor, so they developed an array of methods to increase the rate of sinking, stabilize the sinking floor, and adjust the building on land when areas of sinking were uneven. Sand columns were inserted into the sea floor to assist with pulling water out of the clay soil. Large steel columns were also inserted into the sea floor to form the foundation of the sea wall that would form the island. A series of hydraulic jack lifts were placed in the basement of the buildings on the island equipped with sensors to alarm when a shift of no greater than 10mm occurs. Kansai also implemented many measures to decrease their environmental effect on the surrounding marine life, and they continue to lead the eco-airports of today with their environmental monitoring and eco-friendly practices. The building of Kansai International Airport has laid the foundation for others like it around the world, and earned an award for “Civil Engineering Monument of the Millennium” in 2001.
Kansai International Airport Construction
Introduction
In the mid 1980’s Japan’s Itami International Airport, located near Osaka’s city center, had reached capacity yet demand in the Kansai region – made up of Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe, all major cities in Japan – was increasing for international flights. Osaka was the second largest city in Japan and was a major commercial center. Because of this it was important to have an airport that
Abstract
Kansai International Airport was born from the need to build an airport in Japan’s growing commercial center of the Kansai region. There was no area of land large enough to build on, so a plan was developed to build an island that could house the terminal and runway. Ground breaking took place in 1987, and eventually an island rose up out of the sea in Osaka Bay. Engineers knew that the island would sink due to the alluvial and dialluvial soil on the sea floor, so they developed an array of methods to increase the rate of sinking, stabilize the sinking floor, and adjust the building on land when areas of sinking were uneven. Sand columns were inserted into the sea floor to assist with pulling water out of the clay soil. Large steel columns were also inserted into the sea floor to form the foundation of the sea wall that would form the island. A series of hydraulic jack lifts were placed in the basement of the buildings on the island equipped with sensors to alarm when a shift of no greater than 10mm occurs. Kansai also implemented many measures to decrease their environmental effect on the surrounding marine life, and they continue to lead the eco-airports of today with their environmental monitoring and eco-friendly practices. The building of Kansai International Airport has laid the foundation for others like it around the world, and earned an award for “Civil Engineering Monument of the Millennium” in 2001.
Kansai International Airport Construction
Introduction
In the mid 1980’s Japan’s Itami International Airport, located near Osaka’s city center, had reached capacity yet demand in the Kansai region – made up of Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe, all major cities in Japan – was increasing for international flights. Osaka was the second largest city in Japan and was a major commercial center. Because of this it was important to have an airport that
References: Das, I. (2013, February 14). Case – Kansai International Airport 2nd runway. Retrieved from https://publicwiki.deltares.nl/display/BWN/Case+-+Kansai+International+Airport+2nd+runway Iqbal, S. (2013, November 12). Now you can land airplanes in the sea – Kansai International Airport Japan Kansai International Airport. (n.d.). Retrieved January 25, 2014 from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansai_International_Airport “Kansai International Airport,” 2014. (2014, January 6). Kansai International Airport 2nd runway – General Kansai International Airport Environmental Management Program. (2012, January). Kansai International Airport Co., Ltd Mason, E. (2013, April 17). Megastructures Kansai International Airport. Retrieved February 1, 2014, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTgcgWNRM68 Phalen, J. (2002, March 21). Kansai International Airport: A foundation case study. Retrieved from http://sokocalo.engr.ucdavis.edu/~jeremic/ECI284/TermProjects/2002/JPhalen.doc