Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Ground Near Tokyo
Just outside the Japanese capital, it is now possible for visitors to wander through an enormous underground anti-flood tunnel.
Courtesy of Edogawa River Office
Around 30 kilometres north of Tokyo, in Saitama Prefecture, floods were a frequent problem and caused a considerable amount of damage. To resolve this, the building of a monumental structure began in 1993. Named the Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel, this underground structure was designed to remove excess water from small and medium-sized rivers during periods of flooding. The water then runs into a central tunnel, a bank, and then a pressure-adjusting underground space, before finally flowing out into Tokyo Bay.
A forest of concrete pillars
The anti-flood tunnel, completed in 2006, is open to visitors. The exhibition is free if booked in advance, and a guided tour (in Japanese but some explanatory materials are in English) is also available for those wishing to find out more about the strategies implemented by Japan to tackle natural disasters.
In this impressively large space, the visitor will discover, in the 18m-high main reservoir, a forest of 59 reinforced concrete pillars supporting the ceiling, each weighing at least 500 tonnes. This room is nicknamed ‘The Temple’ and has appeared in films and television programmes.
More information on the Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel can be found on Saitama Prefecture’s website.
Courtesy of Edogawa River Office
Courtesy of Edogawa River Office
Courtesy of Edogawa River Office
Courtesy of Edogawa River Office
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