How Tokyo Swallows a Typhoon Underground

Under a highway in Kasukabe, fifty metres down, Japan hid a 6.3 km river. On the night of Typhoon Hagibis in October 2019 it filled to about 90 percent. You live the whole story: the Edo-era moving of the Tone River (1594-1654) that left a flood-prone dish behind, Typhoon Kathleen in 1947, thirteen years of shafts and shield tunnelling (1993-2006, about 230 billion yen), then one raindrop's trip down a 70 m shaft, through the 59-pillar 'Underground Temple' and four jet-engine-driven pumps into the Edo River. Plus the soccer field on its roof, the dragon in its name, and a twist about the days you can't get in. #Japan #Tokyo #Engineering #FloodControl #History