The vision of creating a city of 5,000 inhabitants on the ocean floor has been set to become a reality by a major Japanese.
As the newspaper Imerisia writes, the plans of Shimizu Corp. that were presented to the foreign press are reminiscent, without a second thought, of science fiction. Except that they do not belong to the realm of fantasy at all, since the Japanese manufacturers have already set the timetable for the implementation of this huge $25 billion project, which they call Ocean Spiral.
The idea of living in a city located at the bottom of the sea has long intrigued architects and builders, but pioneers at Shimizu, a company that builds everything from bridges and roads to skyscrapers with hundreds of stories, plan to build such a city by 2030.
"This is a realistic goal, not some fantastic dream," company spokesman Hideo Imamura told the British newspaper The Guardian.
This ambitious plan envisions the construction of a spiral-shaped building complex, consisting of three parts. A sphere with a diameter of 500 meters will float above the building on the surface of the sea.
The central section will be a 15-kilometer spiral, which will include spaces for business offices, residential areas and hotels. This building will be able to accommodate a total of 5,000 citizens.
At the bottom of the sea, at a depth of approximately 3,000 to 4,000 meters, the spiral will be connected to an "Earth factory" as the company calls it, that is, a research center for the development of "green" energy sources.
This plant will produce methane from carbon dioxide, using microorganisms called methanogens. The designers of this engineering marvel also want to use the difference in seawater temperature to generate electricity.
In addition, Ocean Spiral will produce desalinated water through hydraulic mechanisms and will be surrounded by huge tanks - aquariums for fish farming.
"The ocean has infinite possibilities," Shimizu said in a statement, "and a project like this might help people start thinking practically.".
The design of the "spiral" underwater building was carried out in collaboration with researchers from the University of Tokyo, the Geological and Marine Research Agency of Japan, and the State Marine Research Agency.
Source: defencenet.gr
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