Kansai International Airport Japan. Built on artificial isla

Kansai International Airport Japan. Built on artificial island offshore






As the world's population increases at a more-than-healthy rate and the cost of travel decreases, the number of people looking to travel by air is understandably on the rise. With this growing demand comes the need for more airports as existing ones struggle to cope with the millions of passengers passing through on a daily basis.
So what happens when there's no suitable land to build a new major airport or locals protest the new construction without hesitation due to noise pollution or other environmental implications?
If you travel to Japan in the near future you may witness a solution to these problems, in the form of island airports. At present there are four such constructions in Japan (there are also examples in Hong Kong and Macau), each built on its own artificial island offshore and each
backed by the community it serves. The first of these incredible engineering wonders to be built, and the first of its kind in the world, was Kansai International Airport in Osaka Bay. Just to build the 4-kilometre long island called for 21 million cubic metres of landfill plus the assistance of 80 ships, then there was the small matter of connecting the airport to the mainland by way of a 3-kilometre bridge.
In total the project has so far cost around $20 billion but has already saved some expense by surviving both an earthquake and a typhoon in the last 15 years, in addition to being open 24 hours a day due to its location.
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