Japanese airport is gradually sinking into the sea (6 photos + 1 video)
Kansai Airport, built 30 years ago on artificial islands in Osaka Bay (Japan), is called the most unique in the world. Alas, he plunges into the water - and the further, the faster. 
The huge Kansai International Airport occupies two artificial islands in Osaka Bay and serves as a hub for Asian airlines including All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines and Nippon Cargo Airlines. At the same time, it quickly sinks and moves further and further away from the city. Since its discovery 30 years ago, Kansai has dropped more than 11.5 meters.
Engineers predicted that the islands would settle evenly over 50 years before stabilizing at 4 meters above sea level - the minimum height needed to prevent flooding if the surrounding seawall were to break.
This threshold was reached in just six years, and huge amounts of money were spent raising the seawall in what some believed was a futile attempt to prevent the inevitable.
Kansai is sinking into the sea at terrifying speed
According to the forecasts of a number of engineers, by 2056, sections of the two artificial islands could drop another 4 meters - to sea level.
The busy airport continues to be used every day
When Kansai Airport was built, the amount of soil for land reclamation was determined based on the required ground level and an estimate of subsidence within 50 years after construction. The reclaimed soil was like a wet sponge and had to be turned into a dry and dense foundation that could support the weight of the airport buildings. Construction crews laid sand 1.5m deep on the clay bottom and then installed 2.2 million vertical pipes, each 40cm in diameter.
The Sayonara bridge leading to the airport cost an astronomical amount
The pipes were then driven into the clay and filled with sand, and soil was used to create a more rigid floor. Workers excavated underneath the passenger terminal, placing slabs under hydraulic jacks and lifting columns to try to save the airport. And yet it continues to sink - and different sections of it at different rates, because the airport is not actually level.
Engineers expect Kansai to drop to sea level by 2056
Initially it was assumed that the airport would settle within 50 years
