Shanghai Constructs Underground Bunker Capable Of Sheltering 200,000 People

Shanghai Constructs Underground Bunker Capable Of Sheltering 200,000 People

Shanghai has constructed a massive underground bunker complex capable of sheltering 200,000 people from a nuclear attack, a local newspaper reported.

The million-square-foot complex connects to shopping centers, office buildings, apartment buildings and the subway system via miles of tunnels, the Shanghai Morning Post said in an exclusive report.

The newspaper said the complex has water, electricity, lighting, ventilation and protective doors, and can support life for as long as two weeks.

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Now that's what I would call "planning".

The Russian are also building a nuclear underground bunker but i don't remember the name. They know that the ulimate objective of the USA is to wipe out China and Russia because of ressources, of water, of military superiority, they are taking their precautions.

I'm sure USA already have their bunkers of end times. Old cold-war bunker restaured for the government and rich people. And they'll all let us die from the radiations. How kind!

haha where I live, my old Middle school (junior high) and highschool are/were fall out shelters...After this year, I have one more year of high school...Then its up to me to build my own! haha ...anyway, I think with all this escalation within the past...oh hell, how about since the cold war...has made countries un-easy (I.E. china building bunkers, Russia as well) I guess it would be the smart thing to do...I like how China builds bunker for at least 200,000 of their people (I don't think they have 200,000 politicians there) and our politicians just use their restored bunkers for themselves...Thanks for nothing...

[edit on 1-8-2006 by AllinTheMind89]

200,000, that's a lot of people! It's a good thing that these people are not meant to stay there for more than 2 weeks. Imagine a prison with 200,000 inmates! Things could easily get out of hand there. In the event that this bunker will be used for real, there will be lots of desperate people, angry people, sad people, crazy people, etc. If 200,000 people were to be crowded together in a bunker for more than 2 weeks... :shk:

Originally posted by loam

Wow indeed. That's quite impressive, and appropriate, being it's China with her massive population count.

Speaking of bunkers, and I hope I'm not going off topic here, but I saw on Discovery (or was it NatGeo?) that Singapore has built dual-use subway stations that has a fallout shelter and comes with decontamination facilities throughout. Is this true?

The politicians in this country have dozens of safe houses and fallout shelters, we the people have NONE. I know of one in Montreal that's open to the public, but basically you're on your own. (Not that that's such a bad thing, I wouldn't be caught dead in a confined space with 200k people)

I guess the mentality in a communist country allows for projects like this to a.) be built in the first place b.) actually function in the event of a crisis

I do wonder, though, whether there isn't some ulterior motive behind the construction project. Whether it's something typical of politicians, like reassuring the people, or something more sinister, I don't know. What are your thoughts on this possibility loam?

Somewhat of a tangent: when I read about this (great find BTW, loam ) I immediately thought 'would that work in America?'

My memory drifted back to the Superdome in New Orleans...

Imagine that times ten...



(Yes, I know the media reports were exaggerated, but it still wasn't a pretty scene.)

I honestly think people are better off fending for themselves, preparing emergency refuges with supplies, and cementing plans with their friends and family for crisis situations. Know where to go, know how to get there, know what you're going to need, and prepare. It can't be overstated...

You can bet your bottom dollar that the 200000 people wont be the common ones of Shanghai,more like party officialls and there families and Peoples Liberation Army personnel.

I wonder what kind of food they have in the bunker. I hope it's not beans... Dried meat perhaps? Rice, nudles, pasta, fish? Any animals there? I guess it's no pets but some animals can be useful. I heard some Chinese county were to kill all their dogs because of rabies. I saw it on the news somewhere last night. More than 50,000 dogs. Such a waste. Anyway, enough about dogs and back to the bunker I wonder what they're planning to do when the food runs out 2 weeks later...

You know what they'll do Hellmutt...

Gang up on the fat guy!



On a slightly more serious note, does anyone have any ideas about how much this thing cost?

So how long do you think it takes to "load" a facility with 200,000 people?

Whatever disaster was coming, you'd have to see it coming from days in advance, no?

No, I don't think so loam. The facility has many entrances, connected to offices and apartment buildings above-ground (I think, if I'm remembering correctly what I just read).

It would be funny though, to watch 200k people line up in front of a single entrance...

The article does say connected "via miles of tunnels"... Still, judging from our very own "evacuation" experiences, it seems quite daunting...

On an unrelated tangent, the word "tunnels" got me thinking about how Boston couldn't even build a sound one a few feet. :shk:

Nope...WyrdeOne...sad to say, but I'm afraid such a project wouldn't be possible in this country even if we had the political will to do it. And, I quite agree...NODOME on a scale that is unimaginable....

Yeah, the Big Dig is a Big Disgrace.

But part of me thinks it's intentional. Think about it for a second...

If the first group of contractors completed the project perfectly, that's the end of the story - no more money to be made.

This way, even more cronies get a piece of the action, in the form of repairs and retrofits.

And the more cronies getting a piece, the more kickbacks there are to go 'round...

Bah...

I wonder if this Shanghai project was built using a lot of prison labor to keep costs low? That's gotta lower overhead somethin' fierce...

It constantly amazes me how contractors in other countries (and not just communist countries) can realistically under-bid Western companies (specifically American companies), often by a factor of ten or more. Some of the work we did in Iraq, we billed the Iraqi government for tens of millions - on projects that Arab contractors could have completed for a few hundred thousand.

That's partly why I'm curious about what this project cost the Chinese.

It's not quite on the scale of Yamanatau Mountain, in Russia, but it's pretty damn big. (Again, the mountain probably cost the Russians tens of billions, and if we tried it here it would end up setting us back half a trillion)

Underground parking... that's what this Huge Bunker most likely is used when there's no imminent threat of WMD attacks.

For Example Helsinki has shelters for 100-200K people directly under the city center, most people assume they're just underground carparks, but they are ready to use shelters as well. I assume lots of major cities in western world have similar systems, they're just not adverticed...

If there was a nuclear attack and people hid in these underground bunkers for two weeks or whenever their supplies run out, then surely when they come out they would get contaminated by the radio activity in the air and in the materials that they are surrounded by?
Doesn't it take years for radio activity to go away?

yeah
who wants to be in a 200k people prison?
i think i'd take my chances heading for the hills.
higher altitudes, or area's with high wind factors
would it not be that if the winds were strong, then the build up of
radio activity would be less?
or at the least, the chances of survival are greater for a longer
period of time.
after all,isn't that what we ,as humans, strive for, a longer existence?

Northwolf - well that's somewhat accurate I guess. Most (if not all) carparks in the states don't have proper ventilation/supplies/toilet facilities and so on, so they can't really be considered anything but shelters of last resort.

DodgeG1 - Yes and no. Depending on the particulars of the blast (airburst vs. surface/sub-surface), and the distance, simply shielding yourself from the initial blast with a foot or more of earth or concrete, and waiting a couple of days will protect you from the worst of it.

Alpha radiation is really only dangerous if you ingest it, while beta radiation is pretty similar in that respect, except it will penetrate your skin to some depth and burn you (but sturdy clothing will block it). Gamma radiation is very high energy, but it moves quickly, and it's not easy for your body to trap it, in order for long-term damage to occur.

It can't be overstated just how important it is to WAIT a while before venturing out. Just a few days makes a huge difference. It's critical to understand the situation, if you are to have any hope of surviving it, so I suggest that anyone who is afraid of nuclear fallout research the mechanics of exposure and study some survival skills relevant to the situation - preparation and understanding help to dispel fear.

Surviving in a fallout zone is not as impossible as some people think. I could go into some more detail about filtering water and preparing game and constructing shelters, but this probably isn't the appropriate thread.

Simply put, if you wander around in the crater produced by a surface detonation, without protection, you will get sick and die - no question about it. But if you take shelter during the initial blast, to protect yourself from the gamma burst and the immense heat, you can survive in what's left of..wherever, as long as you take precautions.

If you wait a week before venturing outside I'd give you even odds on dying from some other cause, besides radiation. I think starvation/dehydration/violence/accidents pose a much greater risk past that point, in terms of the odds.

Wyrde, one more point about the Helsinki shelter/carparks is that they're not just something dug while building a shopping mall, they are digged deep into solid rock with several 3ft thick blast doors (that are hidden 99% of the time)

Originally posted by Hellmutt
I wonder what kind of food they have in the bunker. I hope it's not beans... Dried meat perhaps? Rice, nudles, pasta, fish? Any animals there? I guess it's no pets but some animals can be useful. I heard some Chinese county were to kill all their dogs because of rabies. I saw it on the news somewhere last night. More than 50,000 dogs. Such a waste. Anyway, enough about dogs and back to the bunker

I wonder what they're planning to do when the food runs out 2 weeks later...

They will probably have some sort of very large hydroponics systems with grow lights underground allowing them to grow food for there people.

northwolf, count yourself lucky to be living in a country that takes survival seriously.

It's pretty much every man for himself over here.

It doesn't bother me too much that my government doesn't care at all about me, mostly because the feeling is mutual.

I do envy y'all a bit though...