• Japan is building a giant seawall
    37 replies, posted
[quote]Four years after a towering tsunami ravaged much of Japan's northeastern coast, efforts to fend off future disasters are focusing on a [B]nearly 400-kilometer (250-mile) chain of cement sea walls, at places nearly five stories high. [/B] Opponents of the [B]820 billion yen ($6.8 billion)[/B] plan argue that the massive concrete barriers will damage marine ecology and scenery, hinder vital fisheries and actually do little to protect residents who are mostly supposed to relocate to higher ground. Those in favor say the sea walls are a necessary evil, and one that will provide some jobs, at least for a time. In the northern fishing port of Osabe, Kazutoshi Musashi chafes at the [B]12.5-meter (41-foot)-high concrete barrier[/B] blocking his view of the sea. "The reality is that it looks like the wall of a jail," said Musashi, 46, who lived on the seaside before the tsunami struck Osabe and has moved inland since.[/quote] [url]http://phys.org/news/2015-03-japan-opts-massive-costly-sea.html[/url] Pictures in article [img]http://i.imgur.com/Ut8fIMl.jpg[/img] [img]http://i.imgur.com/6XyY5Ek.jpg[/img] Wish I could find a map of where the walls will be placed.
So... do we got Kaiju?
The Kaiju will still get through it though, they need to be building more jaegers not a wall, christ this is monster fighting 101.
But that will disrupt the Kaiju migratory paths!
I'm looking forward to some creative graffiti.
a focus on tsunami preparation in the form of evacuation to inland premises would be a better move than this, for what these are damaging (scenery, marine biology etc) it wouldn't come as any surprise to me if people relied on these and ignored evacuation or something along those lines
[QUOTE=FreeHat;47375233]I'm looking forward to some creative graffiti.[/QUOTE] It'd be pretty cool if the government opened it up as public mural space or something to that effect. A massive stretch of paintings as far as the eye can see.
[QUOTE=FreeHat;47375233]I'm looking forward to some creative graffiti.[/QUOTE] probably wouldn't last long
[quote]Four years after a towering tsunami ravaged much of Japan's northeastern coast, [/quote] Damn, 4 years already? Really?
[QUOTE=Hinterlight;47375242]It'd be pretty cool if the government opened it up as public mural space or something to that effect. A massive stretch of paintings as far as the eye can see.[/QUOTE] The flood wall here has murals that tell our town's/state's history. [T]http://ih2.redbubble.net/image.9541199.9089/flat,550x550,075,f.u1.jpg[/T] Here's a Wikipedia page that actually has a picture for most of the pieces on it(although they mislabeled one of the Civil War pieces as the Trail of Tears) [URL]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_River_Tales_Mural[/URL]
If the walls look cool and have some interesting architecture going on this could become a very rad landmark; if they're kept as monolithic concrete blocks, however, I can fully understand why people will be opposed to them.
[QUOTE=FreeHat;47375233]I'm looking forward to some creative graffiti.[/QUOTE] We got some of that on the Galveston seawall. [img_thumb]http://i.imgur.com/btg8otr.jpg[/img_thumb] We built that wall after a Hurricane in 1900 destroyed the entire city and killed 12,000 people. It does it's job, but hurricane Ike went over it, and it's nothing like what they got in Japan for tsunamis. We have a memorial to that 1900 hurricane on top of the wall. Hurricane Ike washed over it to create an apocalyptic picture that pretty much summed up Ike. [img]http://i.imgur.com/Obefd9j.jpg[/img]
Next they're going to close themselves off from the rest of the world and let a technocrat and his robot army rule the nation
[QUOTE=Hinterlight;47375242]It'd be pretty cool if the government opened it up as public mural space or something to that effect. A massive stretch of paintings as far as the eye can see.[/QUOTE] A penis that extends from one end of the wall to the other.
[quote][B]The paradox of such projects, experts say, is that while they may reduce some damage, they can foster complacency.[/B] That can be a grave risk along coastlines vulnerable to tsunamis, storm surges and other natural disasters. At least some of the 18,500 people who died or went missing in the 2011 disasters failed to heed warnings to escape in time. [/quote] ah yes the katrina effect, "we don't have to worry about flooding, we have levies to stop that!, and they'll never break look how big they are!" seems like the approach that should be taken is a mix between a giant-ass wall and more like this [quote]The city repaired the broken sea walls but doesn't plan to make them any taller. Instead, Iguchi was one of the first local officials to back a plan championed by former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa to plant mixed forests along the coasts on tall mounds of soil or rubble, to help create a living "green wall" that would persist long after the concrete of the bigger, man-made structures has crumbled. [/quote] the existing walls might benefit from being raised, but purely relying on the walls to mitigate a wave comes off as kind of putting all your eggs in one basket
[QUOTE=.Lain;47375234]a focus on tsunami preparation in the form of evacuation to inland premises would be a better move than this, for what these are damaging (scenery, marine biology etc) it wouldn't come as any surprise to me if people relied on these and ignored evacuation or something along those lines[/QUOTE] It won't end Japan's worry of tsunami's or natural disasters, but it may be able to buy some valuable time in the event of another 9.0+ earthquake
Great wall of Japan
Attack on Tsunami
I really hope the ecological impacts are modeled well
they could build some artificial barrier islands instead. My home would have been destroyed in Katrina if it weren't for our barrier islands, they do quite a lot to minimize damage and they aren't an eyesore
This will surely hold back the titans
[QUOTE=Sableye;47375406]ah yes the katrina effect, "we don't have to worry about flooding, we have levies to stop that!, and they'll never break look how big they are!" seems like the approach that should be taken is a mix between a giant-ass wall and more like this the existing walls might benefit from being raised, but purely relying on the walls to mitigate a wave comes off as kind of putting all your eggs in one basket[/QUOTE] After Ike, hurricane evacuations are pretty much mandatory despite plans to extend our wall. I would hope Japan would do the same. [editline]22nd March 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=hydrated;47375516]they could build some artificial barrier islands instead. My home would have been destroyed in Katrina if it weren't for our barrier islands, they do quite a lot to minimize damage and they aren't an eyesore[/QUOTE] That would probably have worse ecological implications than a wall.
[QUOTE=OvB;47375626]After Ike, hurricane evacuations are pretty much mandatory despite plans to extend our wall. I would hope Japan would do the same. [editline]22nd March 2015[/editline] That would probably have worse ecological implications than a wall.[/QUOTE] can you explain how? the only difference is that one is made of concrete and one is made of sand
[QUOTE=hydrated;47375656]can you explain how? the only difference is that one is made of concrete and one is made of sand[/QUOTE] You build the wall on the land. You dump the sand into the ocean. Kinda different.
[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;47375717]You build the wall on the land. You dump the sand into the ocean. Kinda different.[/QUOTE] I didn't realize they were being built on land, that makes even less sense than putting them in water.
[QUOTE=hydrated;47375656]can you explain how? the only difference is that one is made of concrete and one is made of sand[/QUOTE] I just wrote a long response to this on my phone, but I lost it - SHIT [QUOTE=hydrated;47375729]I didn't realize they were being built on land, that makes even less sense than putting them in water.[/QUOTE] Seawalls are a last resort defense against storm surge. They're built in low lying areas that would normally be underwater in a storm surge. Barrier islands are suseptable to erosion, and need to be maintained constantly so they remain effective. They cut off ocean currents and block ocean habitats, not to mention they need their own defense to stay effective. Like I said above, I live on Galveston island, which is one of those natural barrier islands you speak of. We keep Houston relatively safe during hurricanes, but we get ravaged ourselves. Since humans decided this was a good place for a city, and we're too stubborn to leave, we just fight against the sea and constantly build walls and such to keep us safe. Barrier islands need jetties to keep the beaches active which is are their own type of coastal defense, and dykes, and dunes, and tons and tons of shipped in sand to keep them there, etc. So really you can build a giant concrete wall, and maybe repair it now and then. Or you can ship in and dredge countless hundreds of tons of sand to build an island, that will be getting smaller with each wave since the moment you built it, and require constant dredging of countless tons of sand to keep there, and countless tons of rock for jetties and dunes, all while cutting off natural currents and destroying fish habitat with the island itself and the constant dredging.
[QUOTE=FreeHat;47375233]I'm looking forward to some creative graffiti.[/QUOTE] Someone will eventually spray paint a giant tsunami on the inside part of the wall. That would keep people from getting complacent, the unsettling image of a 4 story tsunami incoming.
I'm glad Japan's putting effort into keeping their people safe from natural disasters more than ever. I came back from Japan Fair yesterday in my community center, so I'm hoping this keeps them from losing their homes. Unless they build a wall over Shirakawa-go(The real Hinamizawa), then they're all in trouble. :v:
[QUOTE=OvB;47375626]After Ike, hurricane evacuations are pretty much mandatory despite plans to extend our wall. I would hope Japan would do the same. [editline]22nd March 2015[/editline] That would probably have worse ecological implications than a wall.[/QUOTE] evacuations in katrina were also technically manditory but the cops weren't going to enforce it either especially in america when public opinion on manditory is a fine line between "saving my life" and "gubment forcing me off my land" people see a big wall which is something concrete, objectively there and make up their own minds instead of listening to talk about the storm which is far away, unseen, people will rely on what they can see with their eyes and feel with their hands and believe the wall will hold instead of do the right thing and leave
[QUOTE=cecilbdemodded;47376034]Someone will eventually spray paint a giant tsunami on the inside part of the wall. That would keep people from getting complacent, the unsettling image of a 4 story tsunami incoming.[/QUOTE] Then someone will spray paint a giant wall over the tsunami
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