The rapidly aging social capital of Japan is becoming a serious problem, causing deterioration-related damages that result in fatalities, such as the accident in the Sasago Tunnel in 2012. To respond to such issue, it is necessary to execute the maintenance cycles consistently and guarantee proper performance of the social capital. This study aims to provide solutions to the technical issues faced in each phase of the maintenance cycle (inspection/examination, diagnosis, execution (repair and reinforcement), documenting), create a virtuous circle on the technical aspect of the maintenance cycle, and thereby contribute to ensuring the soundness of the social capital.
There are many causes of deterioration damage or deformation of existing bridges, and not all of them can be simulated in a laboratory. Therefore, it is necessary to adopt approaches such as medical science and compile the cases, the examples of the dismantling of removed bridges, the experiments of residual strength and repair and reinforcement effect using samples, followed by an epidemiological analysis to examine the damage form by age. CAESAR, through collaboration with NILIM and in cooperation with MLIT Regional Development Bureau and local governments – the road administrators, is installing sensors in the bridges to observe the progress of deterioration and damage and collecting members of bridges removed due to deterioration and damage.
