Quiz

a) Be built on water

Kansai International Airport seen from the air (Kansai International Airport Co., Ltd )

Kansai International Airport is unique in that it was the first airport in the world to be built on water. It was constructed on reclaimed land off the coast of Osaka in September 1994. The airport is located on the ocean where no-one lives in order not to disturb residents of nearby places with airplane noise. The airport is connected to land by a 3,750-meter bridge. The airport covers 540 hectares. It has one runway 3,500 meters long, and another 4,000-meter runway was completed in the summer of 2007.

Building an artificial island using gravel, dirt, and concrete is a difficult task and costs a lot of money. But the resulting beautiful view of a rectangular runway that appears to be floating on top of the blue sea is a marvel of Japanese civil engineering. The airport was named a Monument of the Millennium by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Construction of the airport also took into account the maritime environment, such as by building a sea wall with a gentle slope that lets seaweed grow easily and installing fish beds for fish to live in. If you have a chance to visit Japan, you might get to use Kansai International Airport!

The bridge linking Kansai International Airport with the land (Kansai International Airport Co., Ltd )

The airport's second runway (Kansai International Airport Co., Ltd )

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