Soletanche Bachy wins cut-off wall project contract for Kansai Airport in Japan

Soletanche Bachy, in a joint venture with Japanese company Penta Ocean, has been selected by Kansai Airports (a joint subsidiary of Orix and VINCI Airports) to carry out a major ground improvement project for Kansai International Airport, located on an artificial island in the heart of Osaka Bay. With more than 30 million passengers in 2024, it is the gateway to Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe in western Japan.

The contract covers the construction of the first section of a 4-km long, 40-m deep waterproof cut-off wall on the airport‘s Island 2. The purpose of this work is to prevent seawater from infiltrating the embankments and causing water to rise to the surface of the island at high tide.

The project is being carried out in a complex environment, in the immediate vicinity of one of the two runways of an international airport in operation, with strict height restrictions due to air traffic and complex geological conditions.

Work will begin in early 2026 and continue until the end of 2027.

After a testing phase, Soletanche Bachy and its partners proposed the self-hardening slurry wall technique, as it best meets the project’s requirements: improved productivity, compatibility with height restrictions, optimized costs, and a more consistent implementation pace.

This solution is based on:

• 5 production rigs specially configured for real-time verticality control,
• a three-shift organization,
• a training plan for Japanese operators provided by Soletanche Bachy experts,
• a reduction in the project’s carbon footprint, thanks to materials optimized by the Soletanche Bachy materials laboratory (cement with 84% slag) and appropriately sized equipment.

This project, which will involve more than 150 people, is based on enhanced collaboration between Soletanche Bachy, Penta Ocean, and Japanese subcontractor Raito Kogyo, also a member of the consortium.

For Soletanche Bachy, the project also draws on the expertise of our teams from its Hong Kong subsidiary Bachy Soletanche Group Limited and Soletanche Bachy International.

Benoit Rulleau, co-CEO of Kansai Airports: “We are honored to collaborate with Penta-Ocean Construction Co., Ltd., which boasts an extensive record of accomplishments both domestically and internationally, as well as Bachy Soletanche Japan Co., Ltd., on the construction of the cutoff wall for the Kansai International Airport island 2. This project will serve as a critical foundation for ensuring the safe and secure operations of Kansai International Airport, and we will advance the construction work with certainty by leveraging the strengths of both companies.”