Latest news with #artificialisland
South China Morning Post
4 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Is Japan's Osaka Expo failing? Visitor numbers disappoint at halfway mark
Halfway through its six-month run on an artificial island built atop a former landfill off the coast of Japan 's second city, the Osaka World Expo is falling short of organisers' expectations. More than 10 million people have visited the expo since its April opening – a symbolic milestone, but short of the pace required to reach the break-even threshold. Organisers estimate that 22 million visitors will be needed by the time the event closes in October for the expo to cover its costs. While the latest figures were touted as a sign of 'stable operations' by the top official overseeing the event, it's a far cry from the 28 million visitors that were projected in the lead-up to the opening. 'Every day recently we have welcomed more than 100,000 people to the expo,' Hiroyuki Ishige, secretary general of the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, told reporters on Monday. Mascots and expo staff pose for a photo in front of the Japan Pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka on July 3. Photo: Kyodo Despite acknowledging the shortfall, Ishige was still upbeat, highlighting the 'attractive contents' of the expo's pavilions, which represent 158 countries and regions, as well as exhibitions from seven international organisations.
The Sun
03-07-2025
- The Sun
World's largest manmade island airport size of a TOWN being built…& it's big enough for every single Brit to fly through
CHINA is steaming ahead with building the world's largest man-made island airport. The town-sized travel hub will sit off the country's northeast coast and process 80 million passengers each year - more than the entire UK population. 7 7 7 The Dalian Jinzhouwan Bay International Airport will cover 20-square-kilometres out in the Bohai Sea when completed. First flights are expected on the runway in 2035, with capacity winding up to around 540,000 flights each year. When construction of the four runways is completed, Dalian will surpass Hong Kong International Airport and Japan 's Kansai Airport to become the world's largest airport hosted on an artificial island. A recent post to the project's social media said: 'The country's largest offshore airport is rising slowly from the sea level like the sunrise in the east." However, progress has not been plain sailing. The engineer running the project, Li Xiang, said in October: 'There have been great challenges to the construction as the project has complex geological conditions, high drilling difficulty and high demand in quality with a tight construction schedule.' The international travel hub will open with an initial passenger capacity of 43 million annually - but that is expected to double as construction completes. The new airport addresses limitations at the existing Dalian Zhoushuizi Airport. Operating for almost a century, the current airport was built during the Japanese occupation and has reached its maximum possible capacity after several recent expansions. Last year, it served 658,000 international passengers. JetBlue plane 'skids off runway' at Boston Logan Airport with all flights halted as rescue crews swarm aircraft Dalian Zhoushuizi sits in a valley surrounded by mountains, which means more planes cannot safely be introduced to the airspace. The difficult terrain has made navigation challenging for pilots, particularly in poor weather conditions, and the airport has reached its capacity limit after multiple expansions. The offshore placement of Jinzhouwan Airport solves these challenges by providing more space for expansion and enhancing safety measures, the South China Morning Post reports. Dalian, in northeastern China, has long been a thriving coastal city with a population of around 7.5 million. 7 7 Its strategic port location has led to it becoming is hub for trade with neighbouring Japan and South Korea - and it plays a key role in the oil refining, shipping, logistics, and tourism industries. The new airport aims to bolster these industries further by improving connectivity and positioning Dalian as a regional air transport hub. Bigger airports are also a cornerstone of China's wider aviation ambitions. The country is on track to surpass the US as the world's largest air travel market - and massive new infrastructure is needed to accommodate that. Beijing's second airport, Daxing (PKX), opened to great fanfare on in October 2019 - the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. At the time, Chinese officials said the country would need 450 airports by 2035, nearly doubling the current count. 7
CTV News
05-06-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
B.C. First Nation builds small island, fisheries officials check for habitat damage
An excavator is seen on the shores of Coles Bay, B.C., where it was used to help build a small island and a land bridge. May 30, 2025, handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Richard Smith, *MANDATORY CREDIT* VICTORIA — A British Columbia First Nation has built up a small artificial island in the tidal shallows of Coles Bay off Vancouver Island, triggering an investigation by fisheries officials into whether it involved habitat destruction and if authorization should have been required. Two yellow excavators could be seen at work last week in the bay, heaping up stones and gravel on top of an existing rock outcrop, in a project the Department of Fisheries and Ocean said was linked to a 'clam garden.' Nearby resident Richard Smith said he watched dump trucks carry loads of rock to the shore, where the excavators hauled it into the bay, also building a temporary land bridge during the construction process. He said the rock outcrop was previously visible at low tide, but the island is now exposed at all times after the construction, which lasted from May 26 to May 30. The Canadian Press watched the excavators at work on May 30, then saw that they had left the scene later that day. That afternoon, about 20 workers, some wearing outfits with the logo of the Pauquachin First Nation, were on the bay's mud flats spreading what one described as 'shell hash.' The worker declined to be identified. Shell hash, made of finely ground sea shells, is used in some aquaculture operations to promote growth of mollusks, such as clams. The Department of Fisheries and Ocean was asked by The Canadian Press about the construction last Friday, and on Tuesday the department said in a statement it was 'aware of work being undertaken involving excavators and dump trucks to move and stockpile rocks in Coles Bay, B.C., to facilitate construction of a clam garden,' a traditional form of aquaculture. It said fisheries officers and biologists visited the site on Monday to evaluate the work. 'Assessment of the work will determine whether there has been any harmful alternation, disruption or destruction of fish and fish habitat that would require authorization under the Fisheries Act,' the statement said, adding that 'it would be premature to comment further at this time.' Work above the high-water mark occurred on Pauquachin territory, maps show. The First Nation did not respond to questions about the work. But it had previously announced an event in August to build a 'traditional sea garden' in Coles Bay, with guests invited to help construct a 250-metre long wall on the tidal flats using 'mindfully sourced and prepared rocks' from a quarry. 'A traditionally designed sea garden will nurture clam beds, welcome the return of numerous sea life, provide food sustainability, awaken sleeping traditional teachings, harvesting practices and sharing to future generations,' a description says on a Pauquachin First Nation website. Shellfish harvesting in Coles Bay was prohibited in 1997 on health grounds because of pollution from septic systems. The Pauquachin First Nation of 423 people along the western shore of the Saanich Peninsula has said the prohibition represents an 'infringement' of traditional fishing rights granted under an 1852 treaty. Chief Rebecca David said in a June 2023 letter to the provincial government that government-authorized septic systems represent the 'primary source of pollution,' calling on Ottawa and Victoria to fulfil obligations under the 1852 treaty by cleaning up the bay so shellfish harvesting can resume. The University of Victoria's Environmental Law Centre said in a report attached to David's letter that the closure of shellfish harvesting had deprived families of a critical food source and 'failure to redress the pollution' represents 'a grievous breach of treaty rights.' David's letter calls for the decontamination of Coles Bay to serve as a 'pilot project for developing a systemic approach to decontaminating shellfish beaches in British Columbia.' The Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship said in a statement the province 'has supported Pauquachin's efforts to rehabilitate shellfish harvest in Coles Bay through regularly scheduled meetings and other technical support.' It did not respond directly to questions about the construction in Coles Bay. The lack of public information about the work has frustrated Smith, who said he is a 'big supporter of reconciliation' and supports 'anything that we can do to assist, co-operate and partner' with First Nations in almost any sphere. 'My frustration is really with the enforcement people or the people that are supposed to be governing this, who provide me with no information at all,' he said. Smith said this uncertainty is weighing heavily on him given the environmental stakes. 'It's the ocean and we all have to protect the ocean,' he said. 'That's part of our lives … theirs (the First Nation's), everybody's, and I'm constantly out on the beach, cleaning it, pulling tires out of the water.' North Saanich Mayor Peter Jones said on Tuesday that neither he nor the council received any notice about the work, but would have to confirm whether the First Nation contacted the municipality. 'I know for myself, I have not been contacted,' he said, adding the municipality has a 'very, very positive and very open' relationship with the First Nation. Jones said he does not know what the First Nation is doing, but said it has been working for a long time with Victoria, Ottawa and the Capital Regional District on restoring clam beds. 'This council is very, very hopeful that the (First Nation) can, in fact, restore the clam beds to a level that would make them very, very useful to them,' he said. 'Again, I hope they are successful, and with regard to what's happening there right now, council and I have no idea.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2025. Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press
CTV News
05-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
B.C. First Nation builds small island, fisheries officials check for habitat damage
An excavator is seen on the shores of Coles Bay, B.C., where it was used to help build a small island and a land bridge. May 30, 2025, handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Richard Smith, *MANDATORY CREDIT* VICTORIA — A British Columbia First Nation has built up a small artificial island in the tidal shallows of Coles Bay off Vancouver Island, triggering an investigation by fisheries officials into whether it involved habitat destruction and if authorization should have been required. Two yellow excavators could be seen at work last week in the bay, heaping up stones and gravel on top of an existing rock outcrop, in a project the Department of Fisheries and Ocean said was linked to a 'clam garden.' Nearby resident Richard Smith said he watched dump trucks carry loads of rock to the shore, where the excavators hauled it into the bay, also building a temporary land bridge during the construction process. He said the rock outcrop was previously visible at low tide, but the island is now exposed at all times after the construction, which lasted from May 26 to May 30. The Canadian Press watched the excavators at work on May 30, then saw that they had left the scene later that day. That afternoon, about 20 workers, some wearing outfits with the logo of the Pauquachin First Nation, were on the bay's mud flats spreading what one described as 'shell hash.' The worker declined to be identified. Shell hash, made of finely ground sea shells, is used in some aquaculture operations to promote growth of mollusks, such as clams. The Department of Fisheries and Ocean was asked by The Canadian Press about the construction last Friday, and on Tuesday the department said in a statement it was 'aware of work being undertaken involving excavators and dump trucks to move and stockpile rocks in Coles Bay, B.C., to facilitate construction of a clam garden,' a traditional form of aquaculture. It said fisheries officers and biologists visited the site on Monday to evaluate the work. 'Assessment of the work will determine whether there has been any harmful alternation, disruption or destruction of fish and fish habitat that would require authorization under the Fisheries Act,' the statement said, adding that 'it would be premature to comment further at this time.' Work above the high-water mark occurred on Pauquachin territory, maps show. The First Nation did not respond to questions about the work. But it had previously announced an event in August to build a 'traditional sea garden' in Coles Bay, with guests invited to help construct a 250-metre long wall on the tidal flats using 'mindfully sourced and prepared rocks' from a quarry. 'A traditionally designed sea garden will nurture clam beds, welcome the return of numerous sea life, provide food sustainability, awaken sleeping traditional teachings, harvesting practices and sharing to future generations,' a description says on a Pauquachin First Nation website. Shellfish harvesting in Coles Bay was prohibited in 1997 on health grounds because of pollution from septic systems. The Pauquachin First Nation of 423 people along the western shore of the Saanich Peninsula has said the prohibition represents an 'infringement' of traditional fishing rights granted under an 1852 treaty. Chief Rebecca David said in a June 2023 letter to the provincial government that government-authorized septic systems represent the 'primary source of pollution,' calling on Ottawa and Victoria to fulfil obligations under the 1852 treaty by cleaning up the bay so shellfish harvesting can resume. The University of Victoria's Environmental Law Centre said in a report attached to David's letter that the closure of shellfish harvesting had deprived families of a critical food source and 'failure to redress the pollution' represents 'a grievous breach of treaty rights.' David's letter calls for the decontamination of Coles Bay to serve as a 'pilot project for developing a systemic approach to decontaminating shellfish beaches in British Columbia.' The Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship said in a statement the province 'has supported Pauquachin's efforts to rehabilitate shellfish harvest in Coles Bay through regularly scheduled meetings and other technical support.' It did not respond directly to questions about the construction in Coles Bay. The lack of public information about the work has frustrated Smith, who said he is a 'big supporter of reconciliation' and supports 'anything that we can do to assist, co-operate and partner' with First Nations in almost any sphere. 'My frustration is really with the enforcement people or the people that are supposed to be governing this, who provide me with no information at all,' he said. Smith said this uncertainty is weighing heavily on him given the environmental stakes. 'It's the ocean and we all have to protect the ocean,' he said. 'That's part of our lives … theirs (the First Nation's), everybody's, and I'm constantly out on the beach, cleaning it, pulling tires out of the water.' North Saanich Mayor Peter Jones said on Tuesday that neither he nor the council received any notice about the work, but would have to confirm whether the First Nation contacted the municipality. 'I know for myself, I have not been contacted,' he said, adding the municipality has a 'very, very positive and very open' relationship with the First Nation. Jones said he does not know what the First Nation is doing, but said it has been working for a long time with Victoria, Ottawa and the Capital Regional District on restoring clam beds. 'This council is very, very hopeful that the (First Nation) can, in fact, restore the clam beds to a level that would make them very, very useful to them,' he said. 'Again, I hope they are successful, and with regard to what's happening there right now, council and I have no idea.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2025. Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press
