Science & Technology

Japan to build giant 250-mile-long seawall

By T.K. Randall
March 25, 2015 ·  53 comments

The wall will stretch for 250 miles along Japan's coastline. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0 Junpei Satoh Having seen more than its fair share of devastating tsunamis in recent years, Japan is now set to become home to one of the most ambitious tidal defence projects the world has ever seen.

With an estimated cost of $6.8 billion, the huge seawall will stretch along 250 miles of the country's coastline while reaching heights of up to 12.5m, the equivalent of a four-storey building.

Some have taken to calling it "The Great Wall of Japan".Despite providing protection against future disasters however not everyone is too keen on the idea. Some argue that the sheer size of the project would represent a significant eyesore and that the money would be better spent looking for a more practical solution to the problem.

"The safest thing is for people to live on higher ground and for people's homes and their workplaces to be in separate locations," said Tsuneaki Iguchi, the mayor of a town damaged by the last tsunami.

"If we do that, we don't need to have a 'Great Wall'."

Given the amount of damage caused by the 2011 tsunami however, in particular that sustained by the Fukushmia nuclear plant, it is understandable that authorities will be looking for a solution that will mitigate the potential for future disaster as much as possible.

Source: Independent | Comments (53)

Tags: Japan, Tsunami, Sea Wall