Japan's Liberty-Sized Shafts Prevent Flooding

Japan's Metropolitan Outer Area Underground Discharge Channel contains flood-control shafts large enough to hold the Statue of Liberty. Completed in 2006 after 13 years of construction, the system redirects overflowing rivers through underground tunnels into a vast pressure-adjusting tank known as the "underground shrine." Its turbines can pump 200 cubic meters of water per second into the Edogawa River. Although authorities use it an average of only seven times a year, the government estimates that it reduced flood damage by approximately 148.4 billion yen during its first 18 years.

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