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Aviation History
1996
1996 - 0081.PDF
ABJA Sea change Japan may be about to wave goodbye to convention as it tackles the problem of airport congestion. MICHAEL FITZPATRICK/TOKYO U SER-FRIENDLY is not a term you could use to describe New Tokyo International Airport at Narita. It is a ¥21,650 ($210) taxi ride away from Tokyo, is inconvenient for connections between international and domestic flights, has a crippling airport tax and is always overcrowded. It is clear to anyone who has used the two congested Tokyo airports (the other is at Haneda) that the city is in urgent need of a new airport, especially now that the tentative idea of moving the seat of Japanese Government to another city has been rejected. Where should such an airport be located? There are feasible sites around Tokyo Bay, but, because of the history of conflict between landowners and airport developers in Japan, the authorities have, until recently, kept the locations of these potential sites secret. Land use is an emotive issue in Japan, and is best exemplified by the plot of tree-lined farm land which sat like a recalcitrant island in the middle of the Terminal 2 extension to Narita Airport. This symbol of defiance, where airport opponents held a blossom-viewing party in the spring of 1993, is now gone — its sale to the air port in the summer of 1995 having signalled the end of an often violent struggle between locals and the authorities which lasted for 30 years. It is not surprising, therefore, that this time the Japanese transport ministry is pursuing a policy of "symbiosis with local people" and, per haps because Tokyo residents are so resolutely opposed to any symbiosis with an airport, an offshore project now seems the safest bet. KANSAI EXAMPLE The logical choice would have been to follow the Kansai Airport example. Kansai, built on reclaimed land, an island off Osaka, and opened in 1995, has sunk by 10m (33ft), however, and requires extra expenditure to shore it up. Because of that, the transport ministry is seri ously considering a floating airport for Tokyo, despite the problems associated with such a pro ject, and is now supporting an agency to look into its feasibility. The Tokyo-based agency, the Technical Research Association of Mega-Float, has been assembled by a conglomerate of Japanese ship builders and steel makers, each bidding to design and construct the floating platform. Agency director Eichi Isobe says: "With lim ited land, the utilisation of sea space has been a major characteristic in the development of the Japanese economy." The agency's task, he says, is to investigate the basic technology needed to realise an ultra-large floating platform to sup port two runways and airport buildings. There are now 30 plans for the floating platform with 30 different positions. The fantastic nature of the concept raises questions. For example, the danger to a floating airport if it were hit by a tsunami (a tidal wave following an earthquake at sea) is dismissed by Isobe. Tsunamis merely raise the sea level, like a huge swell and the airport would gently rise and fall in its wake, he says. The biggest problem facing a floating plat form, Isobe explains, is the flexibility of its moorings. He says that there are difficulties, but the research indicates that they are near to find ing a solution. By 1997, the agency hopes to have a 300 x 60m experimental platform at sea for further tests, at a cost of ¥7.5 billion. As for transport between land and the air port, he says: "A tunnel is the safest choice. Kansai has a bridge, but I do not consider this the safest method for a floating structure. A short bridge attached to reclaimed land, and from there a tunnel to the mainland, would fit the bill." At one time a floating structure had been considered for Kansai, but was ditched in favour of land reclamation. Because of the floater plans for Kansai, Japan is considered to be ahead in the field of floating technology, with the USA not far behind — plans are afoot for a floating airport at San Diego. The airport suggested by Mega-Float would be protected from waves by breakwaters, with the main airport structure built from simple box floats and located 2km (lnm) off shore. Construction estimates for the platform alone are around $19 billion, which, says the agency, is inexpensive compared to reclamation work. Other benefits Isobe which cites are a short construction period, safety from earthquakes and less damage to the environment,. A serious problem yet to be overcome is the age-old battle with corrosive sea water. One Japanese steel company involved in Mega-Float claims that, with the use of new corrosion-resis tant materials, the structure could be main tained for at least 100 years. The extensive use of steel brings another headache — how to neutralise iron's effect on the operation of air-traffic control equipment. The agency is working on the problem, but has not yet come up with a solution. Storms in Tokyo Bay are not seen as a prob lem. The Mega-Float would be secured to the sea bed by cables and, if it were to be threatened by a typhoon, common in Tokyo after the sum mer, the airport would simply shut down. Given the untested nature of the floater • FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 10 - 16 January 1996 27
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