$20,000,000,000 'floating' Japanese airport located in the middle of the ocean is sinking rapidly
Who would have thought that building an airport on the ocean would be a bad idea, yet Japan's bizarre 'floating' travel destination is reportedly sinking much faster than expected.
There are good and bad airports around the world, and you can go from the wealth fuelled extravagance of airports in Dubai to the hilariously small landings in some of the more remote parts of Alaska.
Yet, there's likely no experience quite like landing into Kansai international Airport in Japan for even the most experienced of travellers, as this stop off the coast of Osaka is found floating on top of the water.
Built upon a pair of artificial islands in the Osaka Bay, the airport was first opened all the way back in 1994, and covers roughly 1,055 hectares (2,607 acres) across it's two terminal islands.
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By 2008, the total cost of Kansai International Airport had exceeded $20,000,000,000 - but it's sinking much faster than experts predicted which could spell doom in just over 30 years.
How fast is Kansai International Airport sinking?
Experts indicated that Kansai would likely 'only' sink by around 18.7 feet (5.6 meters) across its lifespan, but this quickly was proven wrong in what would become a worrying trend for the future of this travel destination.
Within just five years the airport had already sank by 27 feet (8.2 meters), and over 30 years after its construction it's indicated that it has experience subsidence of 38 feet (11.58 meters) in total.
Many of the airport's hefty costs have come from land reclamation projects in an attempt to curb the growing sinkage numbers, and Japan have even spent over $148 million on a project that raised the sea wall, but it could be to no avail.
Some engineers have projected that the airport will continue to sink by another 13 feet (3.96 meters) in the next 30 years, meaning that by 2056 it will be underneath the current sea-level - and that doesn't take into account the rising sea-level as a consequence of climate change.
Why was Kansai International Airport built on water?
One of the biggest questions that many rightfully ask is why Japan would even consider building an airport on the water if sinking appeared to be an inevitability over time.
There were major risks involved in the project, but officials deemed it an essential measure to help mitigate issues with overcrowding at the nearby Osaka airport, and in 2019 it had over 31.9 million travellers making it the third busiest airport in the country.
Japan is a small nation geographically relative to it's significant population numbers, and thus space remains a premium. Airports are not only large but incredibly disruptive to the surrounding environment, so having it build upon the Osaka Bay was considered the best possible way of serving demand while mitigating issues with space.
It is already experiencing flooding in instances of extreme weather though, and with the growing likelihood that it'll be underwater in the next few decades, Japan might need to rethink what was once an innovative move in the world of travel.