Talk about mega constructions It implies, at least in recent months, talking about countries like the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia. Not only are they building crazy projects like The Linebut they have also set out to unseat New York as the skyscraper paradise. However, we cannot forget about China that continues to build pharaonic works, and the new Dalian Jinzhouwan International Airport is the latest example.

The reason? They are going to build the largest artificial island in the world for an airport.

a century. dalian It is one of the most important cities in China. It is a city that is in a strategic enclave due to its industries and, above all, its port. This has allowed it to be a key point for product distribution. Its airport, Dalian Zhoushuizi International Airport, has also contributed to this, but it has been in operation for almost 100 years and new solutions are needed.

offshore airport. That solution is the new Dalian Jinzhouwan airport and not on land, but on an artificial island. It will not only be the first in China built on an island of these characteristics, but also the largest offshore airport in the world. Although construction had begun in 2011, the project was officially announced in 2012 and had problems from day one.

The first is the amount that was estimated about ten years ago: 26.3 billion yuan. The second thing is that the work began, as we say, in 2011, but in 2014 there were Chinese media that reported on the lack of government approval necessary for said construction.

Colossal. The work is outrageous in every sense. To accommodate the airport, about 20 square kilometers of land have been recovered, and it is estimated that every centimeter will be occupied by the airport’s terminals, runways and service buildings. This will make it almost twice as big as Hong Kong International Airport and twice as big as Kansai, near Osaka, airports that are also on artificial islands.

The terminal will have an area of ​​900,000 square meters and, as we read in South China Morning Postwill have a ability to move 43 million passengers a year in its first stage. This is more than double what the current Dalian Zhoushuizi airport can handle, but some point to a ability between 70 and 80 million passengers a year.

Goals. It will not only have capacity for passengers, but also for goods, estimating one million tons of cargo each year when the last milestone of the airport has been completed, which is currently divided into two phases:

• 2030: by this year, the 550,000 m2 terminal must have been built. There must be two parallel runways of 3,600 and 3,400 meters, as well as 198 aircraft positions and the capacity to carry out 330,000 takeoffs and landings per year.
• 2050: end of the project and year in which the terminal must have the 900,000 m2 mentioned, as well as two other runways of 3,000 meters, a total of 299 positions for aircraft and the capacity to carry out 550,000 takeoffs and landings per year.

Challenges. Those were the plans in 2022, but in SCMP we can read that the airport council now hopes to be able to open in 2035 with a work that will cost 4.3 billion dollars and that has a series of challenges ahead. The most important one is being on an artificial island, and the aforementioned Kansai airport already knows what it is like to face this type of problem.

Although earthquakes, typhoons and the sinking of the recovered land were taken into account, the airport is sinking and there are voices that suggest that, in 2056, it will be an underwater airport. Another challenge will be transportation to the airport itself, although to cover your back, there are several entry and exit routes designed for both cars and subways and high-speed trains.

Part of the plan. If everything goes as planned, Dalian Jinzhouwan will be just one of the 22 new airports that is under construction in China, a megaproject that aims to strengthen the connection with the rest of the world while promoting its economic expansion.

The combined cost of these projects? A whopping 19.6 billion dollars. Almost nothing, but it gives us a vision of how very expensive the new Dalian airport is going to be as it is on an artificial island, since it alone is going to eat up almost a quarter of the total budget.

Images | Google Earth, Temptation115

In techopiniones | The B side of New York’s skyscrapers: more than 600 kilometers of permanent scaffolding that form bridges of terror