7 votes

Funchal Airport, on the island of Madeira, was too short for modern commercial airliners but there was nowhere to extend to. The solution is one of the greatest civil engineering projects of our time.

Posted by cfabbro
Tags: engineering.civil, airports, runways, infrastructure, portugal.madeira, transport, aviation, videos, tom scott
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kolTgj7uQc

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Title
Europe's toughest airport landing used to be a lot harder
Authors
Tom Scott
Duration
4:35
Published
May 2 2022

2 comments

  1. [2]
    Thrabalen
    Link
    I watched this earlier today, and words do not do it justice. it's essentially a supersized highway overpass (all the shots underneath looked very reminiscent) designed to allow passenger jets to...

    I watched this earlier today, and words do not do it justice. it's essentially a supersized highway overpass (all the shots underneath looked very reminiscent) designed to allow passenger jets to land on them. The sheer amount of pressure the structure has to support... it boggles the mind.

    2 votes
    1. cfabbro
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      It really is mind-boggling. The pillars are so widely spaced it almost looks like it shouldn't be able to hold itself up, and yet not only does it, it can also support a plane landing on it. Crazy!

      It really is mind-boggling. The pillars are so widely spaced it almost looks like it shouldn't be able to hold itself up, and yet not only does it, it can also support a plane landing on it. Crazy!

      1 vote