Amazing Airport Engineering

Posted in Interesting Info by Susan on the October 20th, 2009

Kansai International Airport

Kansai Airport

This airport is considered to be one of the greatest engineering achievements in the world, second only to the Panama Canal. It is the answer to a series of natural challenges. Firstly, Japan is short on flat space, so the solution was to build a man-made island for the airport in the Bay of Osaka – 2 and a half miles long and a mile and a half wide. Secondly, the sea bed is made up of clay, so the island had to be supported by columns under the ground, to stop it sinking and disappearing under its own weight. As if that weren’t enough, the area is prone to typhoons and earthquakes, so a sea wall had to be constructed to protect the airport from water surges and the building had to be designed to withstand the disruption of an earthquake. All in all, quite a challenge. Construction began in 1987 and the project was completed in 1994. The very next year, Japan was hit by the devastating Kobe earthquake. The airport was at the epicentre and survived without damage, to sighs of relief from its designers. But there were soon concerns that the island was sinking faster than expected – at a rate 50 years ahead of schedule. With water now creeping onto the runway on bad days, its future is uncertain.

Dutch Airport, North Sea

Dutch Floating Airport

The engineers who are planning to build an airport in the North Sea will be looking closely at Kansai’s fate, as there are some similarities in the design. At present, the North Sea Airport is no more than an idea, but it would also be created on new land built above water. In some ways it is more ambitious than Kansai; the airport would be located 12 and a half miles off the Dutch coast and is part of a plan to create 95 square miles of new land. Passengers would make the journey from the mainland in underground tunnels and the planes would take off from floating and rotating runways that could turn to face the wind. The project would take 25 years to complete. Some have suggested that a similar scheme in the Thames estuary could be the answer to London’s airport needs.

Terminal 5, John F Kennedy International Airport

Terminal 5 JFK

The abstract curves of the TWA terminal at JFK Airport in New York belong to a different era of air travel. Finished in 1962, its designer Eero Saarinen intended it to be an uplifting place, expressing the drama and excitement of travel. Its concrete structure was a masterpiece of engineering, supported by an invisible steel web, and designed without the aid of the computer programmes that architects use today. But as the world moved into the new millennium, the airline that used the building went bust and it was left empty for many years. Happily, parts of this landmark structure are now in use again as they have been incorporated into the new Terminal 5. The new parts of the building are very much a product of the modern era of air travel. There are extra security lanes and soft rubber flooring in the checkpoint, which is kind to shoeless feet, and a long bench where you can put your clothes, belongings and self back together after the thorough security process. The building’s architecture allows people to flow through it in a new and efficient way, navigating by intuition rather than signage. For example, a blue glowing wall suggests that something fun and exciting can be found on the other side, and passengers who are drawn towards it will come into the Marketplace – the airport’s hub for shopping and dining. The 2 parts of Terminal 5 contrast and complement each other, embodying 2 different ideas of air travel.

Hong Kong Airport

This is another airport out at sea – 16 miles off the coast of Hong Kong. It was a massive construction project. Two mountainous islands were pulverised and the rubble was recycled to create a flat platform for the airport, filling 1 and a half miles of sea. Connecting it to the mainland meant building 22 miles of motorways and tunnels, a high speed railway and the world’s longest suspension bridge, which spans a gap of 1.3 miles. The project was completed in a decade and the airport opened in 1998. It was designed by Norman Foster and, at the time, it also had the largest passenger terminal on the planet.

Stansted Airport

Stansted Airport was a landmark in airport architecture and all the newest terminals have been influenced by its model. It was also designed by Norman Foster and completed in 1991. His innovations were to take mechanical systems out of the roof, put them underground and to utilise as much glass as possible in the walls of the building. This left a light and lofty space above the heads of the passengers and allowed them to see where they needed to go. Some earlier terminals could make you feel that you were enclosed in a dark and airless box, but Stansted let you see the sky and the planes outside; it made a refreshing change.