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Is Beijing Really Sinking?

2016-06-27 ThatsBJ城市漫步

By Justine Lopez


There has been a lot in the news lately about how unlivable Beijing is. But could it be that on top of everything else our city is sinking too?

The culprit is the excessive pumping of groundwater that is occurring in the city, The Guardian reports.

New data gathered from satellite imagery shows that certain areas of Beijing are sinking by 11 centimeters (roughly four inches) every year. While it may not seem like a substantial amount, the researchers who conducted the study claim that it could pose a threat to a megacity like Beijing, especially in regards to infrastructure such as buildings and railways.

The study uses InSAR, a radar that examines elevation fluctuation changes on land. Data concluded that while all of Beijing is technically sinking, the rate at which Chaoyang (especially the Central Business District) is subsiding is particularly concerning. According to the researchers, this is likely due to the rapid development of the area, which involves a vast number of skyscrapers and highways.

According to the article, Beijing is located on a dry plain which means groundwater has been gathering below the land for thousands of years. However, there are tens of thousands of wells located around the capital, and as water is pumped and the water table falls the soil subsides.

Efforts have been made in Beijing in recent years to ease up on pumping water. Last year, Chaoyang released a plan to shut down over three hundred wells. At the same time a project to build 2,400 kilometers of canals was launched in an effort to divert massive amounts of water to Beijing.

According to experts there is still no information on whether or not the canal system will help with Beijing’s sinking problem. However, there are very real concerns about the impact of this issue on buildings and railways.

[Image via Circle of Blue]


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