Giant piston pumps help construct artificial island off the coast of Japan

Abstract

In order to meet expected demand for the nearby Expo 2005 event in Aichi, Japan, and continued rising passenger numbers, a new airport is being built in central Japan 35km south of Nagoya in Ise Bay, off the coast of Tokoname. The Central Japan International Airport (Centrair for short) is due to open in February 2005 but first an artificial island had to be created off the coast of Tokoname to accommodate the offshore airport. Simultaneously, to take advantage of the large excavations necessary for the successful completion of the project, the shipping lanes into the major conurbation of Nagoya have also been deepened. The recently completed land reclamation and re-shaping project has relied on three enormous double piston pumps.