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Five giant cisterns, 500-ton columns, and more than 6.5 kilometers of cavernous tunnels all lie below the world’s
largest metropolis. Tokyo, one of the densest cities on the planet, is home to one of the most ambitious and
enormous flood-control systems ever created. And it is almost entirely invisible to Tokyo residents.
Two massive construction projects protect Japan’s capital from the ever-present threat of floods. The first project,
known as the Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Tunnel, or more simply as the “G-Cans Project,”
was completed in 2009. A network of 3.3 kilometer tunnels, called “The Furukawa Reservoir,” will be in place
later this year.
Tokyo’s full flood control system is an engineering marvel and a global trailblazer in dealing with water in rapidly
expanding urban areas. It is a leadership position the east Asian nation earned through hard experience.
Japan’s history with floods
Tokyo, and the rest of Japan, has a long history of devastating and deadly floods.
And just last year, floods ravaged cities in Japan’s northern regions.
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and flood after flood proved that the system was not enough. After a particularly deadly stream of six floods in the
1980s left tens of thousands of homes in the capital city damaged, national leaders decided Tokyo needed special
attention.
The G-Cans Project
Commissioned in 1992, construction began on the “world’s largest drain” in 1993. The concept was relatively
simple. The plan connected existing rivers and waterways to overflow pipes and drains. This allowed the above
ground drainage system in central Tokyo to continue in operation, while its overall capacity was massively
expanded underground.
Image: Web-Japan.org
The underground system was composed of 5 giant cisterns that collected excess water from rivers and waterways.
Each cylindrical shaft measures about 70 meters in height and 30 meters in diameter, spacious enough to park a
space shuttle.
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These cisterns are connected by 6.5 kilometers of tunnels 10 meters wide buried 50 meters deep. The tunnels
allowed the cisterns to provide capacity support to each other.
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This enormous structure is dubbed “the temple” by visitors (there are tours during low-water periods of the year).
The inside of the tank has even been used in music videos and movies.
In terms of flood safety, the pressure tank is a staging area before a set of four turbines pump the water into an area
of the Edo river that can take the overflow safely out to sea. The pressurized nature of the tank allows the system to
regulate in case one of the turbines breaks down.
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The turbines are powered by jets similar to those used on a Boeing 737 airplane. The system is capable of
discharging 200 cubic meters of water per second.
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Measuring success
It can be hard to measure the impact of a preventative measure, because, by its nature, it prevents a damaging
event from happening. By some estimates, the G-Can flood control system has cut flood damage in half. The
construction’s byproducts have even been put to good use. New levies have been built up around flood prone
rivers using the earth excavated to build the enormous underground system.
In some ways, the success of the project has been its own worst enemy.
Impact on Urbanization
Tokyo and the surrounding area are much safer. The risk to homes, businesses and public services has reduced
significantly. Making the area safer has encouraged more growth and even more urban sprawl. This is creating new
problems.
Super levees designed to create public walking areas and shopping centers have played a part in new developments
moving into areas that are historically flood prone. It seems the system designed to protect Tokyo from floods has
been so successful it is encouraging growth into danger areas still relatively unprotected.
Still a threat
Continued urban expansion, the recent rise in storms across east Asia, and the prospect of further changes from
climate change has city planners worried. Particularly when it looks like the system is being overwhelmed in some
areas.
Video shot in 2011 by a Tokyo resident of the above ground drain systems (supported underneath by the G-Cans
Project) during a typhoon shows what the city is still facing.
To avoid watching the full 8-plus minute, here are some of the highlights. The start of the video shows the water
system before the typhoon has fully hit the region.
Similar to the above ground discharge waterways, the system would focus on moving water from flood areas into
rivers that could carry the water to the ocean. Instead of giant cisterns, the system would use 3.3 kilometers of 7.5
meter diameter tunnels. But like the G-Cans system, the Furukawa project would be entirely underground.
“What makes this system particularly noteworthy is just its scale, because it’s underneath one of the largest cities
in the world,” said Patrick Lynett, a civil engineering professor at the University of Southern California in Los
Angeles. “It allows them to have this flood control out of sight.”
“Japan has no choice. With the lack of space they have, they have to come up with some ingenious way of doing
this,” Marcelo H. Garcia, director of the Ven Te Chow Hydrosystems Laboratory at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign, told the Japan Times.
The project should be completed later this year. It is a feat of construction only matched by its G-Cans peer.
Starting with its connection to above ground water collection systems.
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When finished, water will be able to be pumped away from metropolitan areas, protecting lives and property.
The full capacity of the Furukawa Reservoir is expected to surpass 135,000 cubic meters of water, about the
equivalent of 54 Olympic-size swimming pools.
A less waterlogged future
Completion of the Furukawa Reservoir is the second of three major underground flood control projects in Japan’s
capital region. In the next few years, a third system featuring another 3.2 kilometers of massive tunnels in the
northwest of Tokyo will be complete.
While the cost of these systems may not be reasonable for most countries, the concepts and lessons learned will be
essential in a more and more urban world facing increasing threats from climate change.
For more on the G-Cans system, check out this video from NDTV.
TOPICS | Finance & Innovation, Flood, Floods, What is the largest structure in the world?, Japan, Explore,
Underground temple, Japanese Flood Control, G-Cans, How does Japan survive floods?, Asia, Tokyo
By Michael Wilson
April 29, 2015
Plus one extra one that outranks them all. Read More