SINKING AIRPORT

KANSAI INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT

MANOJ KUMAR.M
4PS16CCS07

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

PROF. DR. JAYASHANKAR BABU SIR
 CONTENTS
 INTRODUCTION
 CONTRUCTION
 NATURAL CONDITION
 LAND SETTELMENT
 CONDITIONS FOR LAND SETTLEMENT
 VARIOUS MEASURES AGAINST UNEQUAL SETTLEMENT
 MEASURE AGAINST NATURAL DISASTERS
 CONCULSION
 REFERNCES
 INTRODUCTION
 Kansai International airport(KIA) is an artificial island in middle of
Osaka Bay, Japan .

 The airport is the 1st man made offshore structure in world.

 Airport is at 5km offshore at an average depth of 18m to 20m sea

level.

 This project is viewed as an ENGINEERING MARVEL and also

awarded as “CIVIL ENGINEERING MONUMENT OF THE
MILLENNIUM”
VIEW OF KANSAI INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT
 CONSTRUCTION

 Construction of 1st phase island of KIA started in January 1987 and

finished in December 1991. operation of airport started in September
1994.

 More than 180 million mᶾ of granular fill with of height about 33m
were placed on the island.

 Phase 1 of dimension 1.25×4KM

 NATURAL CONDITION

 Layer below the sea bed consists of soft layer Holocene clay and
alternative layer of sand and Pleistocene clay.

 Thickness of each layer gently becomes greater as it goes towards

offshore side.

 Holocene clay is thick and weak.

 Due to this condition of uneven settlement occur during and after

construction of airport.
FORMATION OF SEA BED UNDER
KIA
 The land of KIA settles due to its own weight to a significant degree.

 The thickness of the Holocene clay layer decreases to two thirds of

its original thickness.

 To drain out the water from clay layer the engineers used “SAND
DRAIN METHOD”
 SAND DRAINS METHOD
 Sand drain is basically a hole drilled in a cohesive soil and filled
with sand.

 The sand has larger particle size, its permeability is much higher,
thus water will flow through it much more easily.

 Sand drains are installed to drive out the water in clay layer and to
complete the settlement process in the Holocene clay.

 Sand drains are driven into a depth of 20m long and 0.4m in
diameter at an interval of 2.5m into the clay layer
 LAND SETTLEMENT
WHY SETTLEMENT OCCURS….?

 The weight of the artificial island presses the water out of the clay
layers of the seabed, and causes the land to settle.

 The volume of the clay of the seabed decreases in relation to the

volume of the water pressed out of the formation in the seabed by
the weight of the airport land.

 This phenomenon is called “CONSOLIDATION” .

 The clay is gets harder and harder as the water is pushed out of the
clay little by little.

 The ground settlement stops when the clay hardens sufficiently so

that it can support the weight of the land.

 The settlement of the seabed plus the sand compression make up the
total settlement under the artificial island of KIX.
 The average depth of settlement since the start of the KIA
construction is 13.05 m.

 The depth of settlement before the opening of KIX was 9.82 m.

Consequently, the depth of the settlement since the opening of KIX
is 3.23 m.

 The average depth of settlement was 50 cm per year around the

opening of KIX. The depth is 6 cm per year in 2014.

 The depth and the degree of the settlement decrease year by year. It
is clear that the settlement is tending steadily towards an end.
SETTLEMENT PER YEAR ISLAND
AS PER YEAR IN 2014
 VARIOUS MEASURES AGAINST
UNEQUAL SETTLEMENT
 If the ground sank equally, there would be no effect on the structures
and functions of the airport facilities.

 If the depths of the settlement vary by location, however, significant

problems such as warping in building structure occurs.

 Buildings, especially, are very sensitive to this process. Even a

slightly unequal settlement may adversely effect a structure.
 MEASURES AGAINST UNEQUAL
SETTLEMENT
 RAFT FOUNDATION

 COMPACTION OF THE FILLED GRANULAR LAYER

 JACK-UP SYSTEM
 JACK-UP SYSTEM

 Jack-up system are installed under the passenger terminal columns

in order to level the floor of the terminal.

 The passenger terminal has 9 hundred columns under the floor.

 The settlement at each columns are automatically measured so that

which column have to be raised known.
 CONCEPT OF JACK-UP SYSTEM
 Each column is equipped with
the sensors it is connected
to computerized system.

 When the island sink unequally,

then power lifting must take place
and by hydraulic jacks each capable
of lifting 300 tones.

 Metal pates are placed at a time to

raise the height of the upper floor
back to level again.
 MEASURES AGAINST NATURAL
DISASTERS
 Measure against heavy rain

 Against the elevation of the ground water level owing to the high
tides

 Measure against high waves from typhoons

MEASURE AGAINST HEAVY RAIN
 The rain that falls onto the KIA flows into the rain water drainage
pipes at the surface and goes into the sea.
 The uneven settlement decreased the angle of the drainage pipes and
reduced the natural flow of water to flow into the sea.
 In order to solve the problem, drainage pumps at the exit points to
the sea are installed so that the water flows out smoothly.
 UNDERGROUND WALL
CONSTRUCTION
 The wall has constructed to prevent rises in groundwater levels due
to abnormally high sea levels, and high tides caused by typhoons.

 The Underground Wall will effectively provide full protection

against future rises in sea level.
MEASURE AGAINST HIGH WAVE
FROM TYPHOON
KIA has raised the seawalls to a level that will prevent abnormally
high waves from coming over.
 CONCULSION
 Kansai airport is unique design and construction have posed many
challenges during and after the construction.

 Many measures are taken on settlement like installing jack-up

system to the columns to lift up floor level if any uneven settlement
in the terminal area during the construction stage.

 Construction of KIA is one of its own kind and many new

techniques are used to ensure the safety.
 Engineers are consistently observing the settlements in the Island to
ensure the safety of the island.

 At time it was built the Engineers don’t account the effect of global
warming.

 According to some experts the Kansai airport might be under water

in course of time.
 REFERENCE
 Kansai Airport.A&E Television Networks. Magastructures. Www.youtube.com.
InuyashaKnight, 27 June 2008. Web. 22 Jan. 2010.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CSc2bBfYaM&feature=related,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcLLvbPnxyQ&feature=related>.

 T. FURUDOI, Kansai International Airport land development co.ltd, Japan.

 Kansai International Airport Co., Ltd. (2003): Fiscal 2002 Accounts Settlement

 New Kansai International Airport company.Ltd(website)

 Kansai International Airport, Japan Unexpected Excessive Settlements© Springer

Science+Business Media B.V. 2010 A.M. Puzrin et al., Geomechanics of Failures,
DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-3531-8_2
THANK YOU