The Hokkaido shinkansen is pretty crazy. It's basically just tunnels.
All this is just going to be a tunnel
@matrix Why are you interested in this in particular?
@Mr_NutterButter I watched an Abroad In Japan video riding the shinkansen, checked the stops on Google Maps, decided to scroll the entire line and noticed there's construction in progress
@matrix Doesn't Japan get a lot of earthquakes
@Vo Yes, a lot. All their buildings are built with that in mind. Smaller buildings are built so their walls can flex and towers and skyscrapers are built on standoffs with a hanging ball or rod in the middle that counteracts the movement from the earthquake.
I dunno what specifically they do to tunnels to make them more sturdy though. They probably just pick paths where the rock is unlikely to move.
They also have a shitton of earthquake sensors everywhere so the trains stop before the earthquake hits.
Mapping in progress construction from google maps is fun.
First one was Watari Tunnel (渡島トンネル).
Here's Nifuku Tunnel (二股トンネル), Bifuka Tunnel (碧雲トンネル), Notaguchi Tunnel (野田追トンネル) and after Yakumo Tateishi Tunnel (立岩トンネル).