PWRI News

The 41st Joint Meeting of U.S.- Japan on Wind and Seismic Effects, UJNR


Group photo of US-Japan Members attending 41st Joint Meeting of the Panel on Wind and Seismic Effects (at NILIM)

Presentation of papers at the 41st Joint Meeting

Site visit
(Ariake Yard for fabrication of main truss span of Tokyo Rinkai Oh-hashi Bridge)

The 41st Joint Meeting of the U.S.-Japan Cooperative Program in Natural Resources (UJNR) Panel on Wind and Seismic Effects was held from May 18th to 20th, 2009, at the National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management (NILIM) in Tsukuba City, Japan. This Panel, which is one of the 18 panels set up within the UJNR, is intended to exchange research results between Japan and the U.S. on wind- and seismic-resistant structure design and to develop comprehensive countermeasures and technologies for the prevention of loss of life and property. The Joint Meeting has been held every year alternately in Japan and the U.S. for almost 40 years since the first meeting in Tokyo in 1969, and the Panel has engaged in vigorous activities including workshops, joint research, and researcher exchange.
In this 41st Joint Meeting, ten Panel Members from the U.S. were invited to join three-day discussions on (1) Next-Generation Building and Infrastructure Systems, (2) Dams, (3) Wind Engineering, (4) Transportation Systems, (5) Storm Surge and Tsunami, (6) Sustainable Design for Buildings and Infrastructure - Focus on Natural Disaster Prevention, and (7) Disaster Resilient Buildings and Infrastructure. The latest information about wind- and seismic-resistant technologies was exchanged between Japan and the U.S. through the presentation of a total of 21 papers by participants from the two countries. The resulting Q&A sessions turned out lively enough to exceed the allotted time. Meaningful discussion was also held on the direction of the Panel's future activities
During the site visit held from May 21st to 23rd after the Joint Meeting, a study tour was including visits to facilities for managing the disaster prevention such as Disaster Management Center (DMC) at Ariake and the earthquake early warning system of Japan Meteorological Agency, and participants also visited construction sites at large-scale projects such as the Tokyo Rinkai Oh-hashi Bridge and new runway at Tokyo International Airport (Haneda). The U.S. members were introduced to Japan's latest technological trends through a visit to an office building designed and built with a focus on environmentally-friendly sustainability. The U.S. participants actively asked questions during the tour and engaged in meaningful opinion exchange.

(Contact: Soil Mechanics and Dynamics Research Team)

Award-winning hydrologists speak on the occasion of the 2008 JSCE International Contribution Award


Dr. Kuniyoshi Takeuchi, Director of ICHARM

Dr. András Szöllösi-Nagy, deputy assistant director general of UNESCO

At the award ceremony in the JSCE 95th General Meeting

Dr. András Szöllösi-Nagy, deputy assistant director general of UNESCO, and Dr. Kuniyoshi Takeuchi, director of ICHARM, were awarded the 2008 International Contribution Award by the Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE) for their outstanding contributions to global water issues.
Dr. Szöllösi-Nagy was recognized for his initiative in promoting intergovernmental research plans as the then director of the Division of Water Sciences of UNESCO from 1989 and also for his significant contributions to the launch of ICHARM. Dr. Takeuchi taught at Yamanashi University for a long time and played an important role in promoting the globalization of Japan in the field of hydrology and water resources as a vice chairman of IWRA and the chairman of IAHS. He also received special recognition for his recent dedication and commitment to laying out the foundation of ICHARM as its first director.
To celebrate the distinguished world-class hydrologists, the National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management (NILIM) and the Public Works Research Institute (PWRI) jointly held a special lecture meeting on "Global Climate Change and Challenges in Water Management" on May 29 in Tokyo. The lecture meeting was also supported by the Japanese National Commission (JNC) for UNESCO, JSCE, and the Japan Society of Hydrology and Water Resources.
The two hydrologists gave lectures in front of a large audience gathering to celebrate the special occasion. Dr. Takeuchi spoke first on "Disaster Management for Sustainable Well-being." In the lecture, he addressed "human empowerment" as a key concept in disaster management. He pointed out that, to reduce water-related disaster damage worldwide, the elimination of vulnerability factors within communities are imperative in addition to the protection of communities from external forces of natural hazards. For that reason, he emphasized the enhancement of the ability to cope with water-related disasters at the local and individual levels. In this context, Dr. Takeuchi explained that ICHARM prioritizes "Localism" in its efforts, introducing the centre's contributions to development and dissemination of satellite-based early warning systems as well as trainings in water hazards and risk management.
Dr. Szöllösi-Nagy followed Dr. Takeuchi to speak on "Global Changes and Their Impacts on Water Resource: New Challenges and Opportunities for Civil Engineers." He shared his insightful views on how global climate as well as socio-economic changes may affect prospective work and roles of civil engineers. He suggested that those engineers should pay special attention to securing adequate reservoirs in basin water management. Pointing out the significance and difficulty in solving global water issues, he concluded the lecture by quoting the words of John. F. Kennedy: "Anybody who can solve the problems of water will be worthy of two Nobel Prizes, one for peace and one for science."
The lecture room with a capacity of about 100 people was filled with an ardent audience listening to the two speakers until the end of the event.
Dr. Szöllösi-Nagy and Dr. Takeuchi have been good friends for 35 years since they shared a laboratory at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Austria. It was quite a pleasant surprise for the two to find out that they were given the same award at the same time. Meanwhile, the Hungarian scientist celebrated his 60th birthday just a week before the event and was doubly happy calling the honorable award "the best birthday present I have ever had."

(Contact: ICHARM)

Non-destructive Test Methods Demonstrated


Photo 1 Mr. Morihama reporting on the results of the Study

Fig.1 An example of impact elastic wave (surface two-point) method, a non-destructive test methods
Concrete strength measured by the speed of propagation of impact caused by hammering (the faster the speed, the harder the concrete)

Photo 2 Demonstration and observation of the impact elastic wave (surface two-point) method

From 1999 to 2007, PWRI, the Japanese Society for Non-Destructive Inspection (JSNDI), various universities and private companies(33 organizations in total) conducted the Study on Inspection Method of Concrete Structures Using Non-Destructive and Semi-Destructive Tests. Subsequently, the NDIS (Standard of the Japanese Society for Non-destructive Inspection) was established based on the results of the Study. In order to disseminate the research results, the 1st committee meeting of 2009, organized by the JSNDI Ad Hoc Research and Technical Committee on Reinforced Concrete, was held on May 18th at PWRI. There were a total of 60 participants.
At the 1st committee meeting, reports were made on (1) the results of the Study, (2) the current status of the NDIS and (3) an overview of various non-destructive test methods, followed by the demonstration of 12 non-destructive test methods.
In the morning session, reports were given on the overview of (1) - (3) (Photo 1).
(1) Report on the results of the study
Mr. Morihama, manager of PWRI, gave a briefing on the study's results, which were featured in the Journal of JSNDI in April.
(2) Current status of the NDIS
A report was made on the current status of concrete-related NDIS.
Professor Yanai of Nihon University, Chairman of the Drafting Committee, presented an overview of the NDIS 1401 (Methods of Radiographic Examination for Concrete Structures).
In addition, Mr. Morihama reported on NDIS 2426 (Methods of Elastic Wave Test for Concrete Structures) and other NDIS standards currently being established or scheduled for revision.
(3) Introduction of various non-destructive test methods
A report was made on the test methods concerning the Study, NDIS and gas permeability test (the Torrent method) which has recently been attracting researchers and engineers of non-destructive inspection.
In the afternoon, a demonstration of twelve test methods was given in scorching hot weather by using large specimens used in the Study (Photo 2 and Fig.1).
The dissemination of the NDIS is expected to facilitate the introduction of non-destructive tests for reinforced concrete structures and contribute to reliable structure maintenance.

(Contact: Concrete and Metallic Materials Research Team)

Establishment of the Intellectual Property Policy


Change in patent licensees

PWRI conducts hundreds of R&D projects each year, the results of which often include useful inventions such as technologies that help more inexpensive construction of bridges. These technologies are collectively referred to as intellectual property and the individual inventions are protected by law as patent rights, utility model rights and other such rights if the application is submitted to the government (Patent Office) and approved. That makes them valuable assets like money, jewelry and etc.
Since its reorganization as an incorporated administrative agency in FY2001, PWRI has been intending to retain valuable intellectual property as the right of patent etc. whenever possible and has been using many of them actually for public works such as road and dam construction, in order to return effects such as reduction of construction costs back to society widely. As a result, the number of patent rights etc. owned by PWRI, which was 266 as of the end of FY2001, grew to 397 as of the end of FY2007, a significant 1.5-fold increase over six years. In addition, vigorous activities for promoting the use of patent rights that have not been used or new patent rights etc. that have been acquired have brought about a substantial increase in the number of licensees that have entered into license agreements after PWRI became an independent administrative institution.
In this way, our intellectual property is active condition in aspect of "creation", "protection" and "use". In order to maintain this condition and develop further, we should clarify the PWRI's basic concept of intellectual property, and have to deal it more strategically and positively. For this reason, we established an internal committee for the formulation of intellectual property policy, chaired by chief executive Sakamoto, in order to discuss this issue; the PWRI intellectual property policy was established as of April 1st, 2009.
Because the PWRI's operations include the creation of technical standards that to be widely used in society and technical guidance for the solution of technological problems as well as in research and development of individual technologies, the basic concept of this Policy is to maximize the value of the intellectual property for society as a whole. In view of PWRI's characteristic focus on civil engineering public works, the basic concept also includes strategic R&D in line with the needs of such projects and turning its results into rights as assets that can be utilized to promote public works and disseminate technologies.
Going forward, PWRI intends to strive to invigorate PWRI's intellectual creation cycle of "creation", "protection" and "use" even further based on the Policy to make give back higher-quality R&D results to society even more widely than before.

(Contact: Construction Technology Research Department)

CAESAR and Takamatsu National College of Technology conclude an agreement on the development of technological capabilities


Dr. Kamon, President of the Takatech (left), and Dr. Oishi, Director of CAESAR, shaking hands upon conclusion of the agreement

Status of regular inspection implementation
(September 2007, survey by the MLIT)

Personnel in charge of bridge administration and instructors at Takatech engaged in on-site training

Program

On May 29th, 2009, PWRI's Center for Advanced Engineering Structural Assessment and Research (CAESAR) concluded an agreement with Takamatsu National College of Technology (Takatech) on the development of bridge maintenance technological capabilities for municipal road administrators.
There are many road bridges in Japan; those 15 m or longer alone number approximately 150,000. About 90,000 - around 60% - are managed by municipalities. However, municipalities rarely conduct regular inspection, which occurs once every five years for bridges managed by the national government. There are three reasons often mentioned for why inspections are not conducted: lack of technological capability, financial problems, and lack of technological human resources. Development of engineers engaged in actual on-site work is an urgent task for appropriately maintaining road bridges that are continuing to age.
At Takatech, Professor Teiji Ota has led a training activity called Practical Maintenance and Administration of Bridges since last year; this activity is designed to assist developing municipal road administrators in Kagawa Prefecture in acquiring bridge maintenance capabilities and in becoming capable of appropriately implementing countermeasures for aging bridges. This approach is characterized by an alternating monthly schedule, with on-site training given by municipalities and lectures given by Takatech.
The current agreement is intended to provide the basis for CAESAR's technical cooperation with the course, such as the dispatch of instructors. In addition, the agreement is expected to contribute to the fostering of engineers engaged in maintenance and administration as well as facilitate the acquisition of information on actual maintenance administration and data leading to future R&D as well as the accumulation and dissemination of bridge maintenance administration models and human resources development methods according to the current situation of the municipalities.

(Contact: CAESAR)

FY2009 1st Internal Evaluation Committee Meeting


PWRI research evaluation flow


1st Internal Evaluation Committee Meeting

2nd Internal Evaluation Committee Meeting

Internal Evaluation Committee Meetings were held on Apr. 24th and from May 12th to 14th in Tsukuba and on May 20th and 21st in Sapporo.
PWRI evaluates the R&D activities and results at the pre-research, interim, and post-research stages with respect to the need for R&D, implementation, progress, quality of outcome, status of incorporation, and other factors.
There are two types of evaluation: internal evaluation by PWRI and external evaluation by university and private researchers and other scholars with highly specialized knowledge. The evaluation results are examined and discussed first by the Internal Evaluation Committee, then by subcommittees of the External Evaluation Committee and finally by the main External Evaluation Committee.
The Internal Evaluation Committee consists of two committees: the Internal Evaluation Committee (Tsukuba) and the Internal Evaluation Committee (Civil Engineering Research Institute for Cold Region). Some committee members serve concurrently on and are engaged in discussion with both of the Committees.
This year's Internal Evaluation Committee Meeting mainly took up post-research evaluation of projects completed in FY2008 and pre-research evaluation of projects to be launched in FY 2010.
The results of the recent Internal Evaluation Committee Meeting will be discussed by the External Evaluation Committee Meeting on Jun. 26th after discussion by the subcommittees of the External Evaluation Committee to be held from the beginning to the middle of June.

(Contact: Evaluation and Coordination Section)

Chishima Cherry Blossoms Opened to the Public


Public view


Chishima cherry blossoms

Cherry trees lit up

Civil Engineering Research Institute for Cold Region (CERI) opened its rows of Chishima cherry blossoms on the premises to the public from Apr. 25th to May 6th.
The Chishima cherry blossoms, deciduous blossoms that grow naturally mainly in the eastern and northern parts of Hokkaido, the sub alpine zones in the Chubu area and locations north on Honshu, Chishima, Sakhalin, and other areas, are northern cherry blossoms that produce 2-2.5 cm large pink or white blossoms.
There are about 200 Chishima cherry trees along Shojin River that runs through the CERI premises. The Chishima cherry trees were planted in 1984 as part of the premise beautification activities. The cherry trees, which were young when they were planted, have now grown to be 3 - 4 meters.
Public viewing began in 1999 so that the rows of Chishima cherry blossoms could be enjoyed by many people. This year marks the 11th year of the viewing, which has now taken root in the local area as a normal spring event. CERI has also come become popular as a hidden spot for cherry blossoms in Sapporo, as it is broadcast on TV every year.
The weather was not favorable at the opening of this year's public viewing period due to unseasonable snowfall, but conditions subsequently changed for the better and more than 5,000 people visited the premises in the short viewing period.
Chishima cherry trees resist the cold weather and grow larger slowly and steadily. Just like those Chishima cherry trees, CERI firmly determine to spread its roots in the cold region and steadily proceed with research activities.

(Contact: Planning Division, CERI)