"FY2009 JSCE International Award" Commemorative Lecture

Dr. H.S. Lew giving his lecture

Researchers and engineers listening intently to the lecture

Discussing on lecture

Dr. H.S. Lew (Senior Research Structural Engineer in the Building and Fire Research Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, U.S. Department of Commerce) received the FY2009 International Award of the Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE) for his international activities over many years. According to JSCE Regulations, the International Award recognizes "(1) Japanese civil engineers who have made significant contributions to a foreign country or countries for the development of civil engineering technology and/or for the development of infrastructure through their professional practices, receiving recognition and appreciation locally; (2) an overseas civil engineer who has been recognized and appreciated due to his/her professional services contributing to the advancement of Japanese civil engineering disciplines". As a member of the U.S.-Japan Panel on Wind and Seismic Effects, U.S.-Japan Cooperative Program in Natural Resources (UJNR), Dr. Lew has made enormous contributions to the advance of wind and earthquake engineering and exchanges in technology between Japan and the U.S. over a period of 36 years since 1974. The main aims of the panel are to give opportunities for the exchange of opinions, presenting the results of research on wind and seismic effects on structures, in view of the face that both the U.S. and Japan are prone to suffer from natural disasters.
To mark the award, the National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management (NILIM) and PWRI held a lecture meeting on "Strategies for Structural Robustness and Disproportionate Collapse Mitigation" in the Hotel Metropolitan Edmont on May 28th. Following the opening address by Mr. Nishikawa, Director-General of NILIM, Dr. Tamura (Research Coordinator for Earthquake Engineering, PWRI) introduced the guest lecturer and reported on UJNR's accomplishments, after which Dr. Lew gave a lecture lasting more than an hour. Dr. Lew first analyzed past cases of collapsed buildings, then went on to describe the disproportionate collapse (collapse of an entire building owing to partial collapse caused by fire, explosion or other human error), the importance of structural robustness, and the latest research aimed at developing technology to mitigate disproportionate collapse, among others. He also explained the design concepts and design standards used in American buildings.



(Contact: CAESAR)

President Cho Yong-Joo of KICT visited CERI

President Cho (left) and Director-General Kawamura (right) shaking hands with each other after agreeing to further future research exchanges

The delegates were highly interested in rumble strips.

Visit to an experiment facility (wheel running machine)

On May 17th, President Cho Yong-Joo and four other delegates of the Korea Institute of Construction Technology (KICT) visited CERI to promote exchange concerning civil engineering technologies for cold regions.
KICT was established by the South Korean government for the research and development of new technologies in the construction field. Its vision is to lead the world in research activities on construction technology in the 21st century, and it is playing an active role as an institute where knowledge and information on construction technology are concentrated. Its research sections range from structures to roads, ground, water resources, environment, architecture construction, disaster prevention, construction management and construction information technology.
PWRI and KICT have been promoting the exchange of research activities and results with each other since they concluded a research agreement in the field of construction engineering in 2002. Based on the research agreement, the delegates of the KICT visited our institute on this occasion for the purpose of facilitating research exchange to promote research on infrastructure in cold regions, including roads and tunnels.
Before the tour of the facility, Mr. Kawamura, Director-General of CERI gave a welcome speech, in which he said, "CERI has promoted research and development in various fields, such as roads, rivers, ports, fishing ports and agriculture, for seventy years. We hope to continue active technical exchange in the future."
President Cho thanked him, saying, "Your institute is conducting research on civil engineering in cold regions that we could not do. We would like to further our exchange through joint seminars and other activities. We are grateful for being allowed to visit your institute. We would like to remain close in the future."
After giving an overview of each organization and its activities to each other, the delegates were guided through the institute and the research activities of the Road Maintenance Research, Materials Research, Traffic Engineering Research and Geotechnical Research teams were introduced. When the Road Maintenance Research Team made a presentation on the design, construction and maintenance of asphalt pavement, the delegates asked questions, such as "What is different about the pavement materials used in cold regions?" and "What are the points that require attention during construction in cold regions?" The Materials Research Team gave a presentation on combined deterioration caused by frost damage and chloride attack, and answered questions that included "Are the research results reflected on national criteria?" The delegates were highly interested in the fact that the rumble strips introduced by the Traffic Engineering Research Team were effective in preventing head-on collisions and fatal accidents.
In the future, Korean researchers will have exchanges with relevant research teams together with the Tsukuba Central Institute.



(Contact: Cold Region Technology Promotion Division, CERI)

Lecture by Dr. Samhee Lee of KICT

Map showing locations of the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project (reproduced from a pamphlet by the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, ROK)

Dr. Lee giving his lecture

A lively Q&A session was held

On May 20th, 2010, Dr. Samhee Lee, Director of the Water Resources and Environment Research Department of the Korea Institute of Construction Technology (KICT, equivalent to the PWRI in Japan), gave a lecture in the PWRI's ICHARM Auditorium. Dr. Lee learnt the theory and practical techniques of river nature restoration through PWRI as a JICA trainee in 1992 and as a graduate student in the Cooperative Graduate School System with Tsukuba University from 1995 to 1998. He then went on to make a major contribution to the development of river restoration works in his native South Korea. In 2008, Dr. Lee was awarded the Civil Merit Medal of South Korea in recognition of his achievements.
This lecture was organized to mark Dr. Lee's receipt of the "Distinguished Contributor in the River Field Award" of the Japan River Association in 2010, as well as his visit to Japan to attend the award ceremony. On the day, the venue was almost completely full, with many participants from PWRI and NILIM.
In the lecture, Dr. Lee introduced the "Four Major Rivers Restoration Project" for flood control, water resources and environment currently in progress as a state project in the Republic of Korea. He explained how this project, aimed principally at four major South Korean rivers (Han, Geum, Nakdong and Yeongsan), is designed to address problems of deteriorating water quality and ecosystems, worsening riparian environments, and the increased frequency of flooding and drought caused by global warming and other climate change. Dr. Lee also explained how, besides flood control and water utilization measures in the construction of barrage, "dam network" for sharing water through tunnels linking dams, the use of agricultural reservoirs and flood control basins, and measures to boost river flow capacity by dredging river bottoms, various environmental measures are also underway. These include efforts to restore wildlife habitats in rivers and develop waterfronts for easier use by the citizens. Dr. Lee's explanation included specific episodes from his personal experience of involvement at the core of the project, and his lecture was followed by a lively exchange of views.
Aspects of the lecture that left a particularly strong impression were Dr. Lee's statement that "the most important and most difficult part of the project is to formulate a vision that will be easy for the people to understand", and his attitude of determined commitment to the project.



(Contact: River Restoration Research Team)

Reconnaissance Investigation on the Bridge Damages Due to the 2010 Chile Earthquake

An outline map of the 2010 Chile Earthquake (Click to enlarge)

Photo 1 Unseating Skewed PC Girder Bridge

Photo 2 Unseating Bridge Due to Excessive Inclination of Pier Wall Photo 3 Presentation of Damage Investigation Results and Seismic Design Technique in Japan

An intensive earthquake of the magnitude 8.8 occurred in Chile on Feb. 27th, 2010. The epicenter of the earthquake is offshore of Maule, where is 350km southwest from Santiago and 100km north from Concepcion. Structural damages and tsunami effect were developed in wide area between Northern Santiago and Southern Concepcion. Since the Chile is located in the Pacific Rim earthquake zone, intensive earthquakes have sometimes occurred in times past. In 1960, the earthquake with the largest magnitude of 9.5 in the world also occurred in Chile.

With the request from Japan Society of Civil Engineering (JSCE), PWRI dispatched Dr. Hoshikuma, Chief Researcher of CAESAR, to the Chile with the schedule from Mar. 27th to Apr. 7th, for the joint reconnaissance investigation group member of JSCE, Japan Association for Earthquake Engineering, Japanese Geotechnical Society and Architectural Institute of Japan. Dr. Hoshikuma belonged to the bridge structure investigation team with the leader of Prof. Kawashima (Tokyo Institute of Technology) and other member of Dr. Unjoh (NILIM), Prof. Kosa (Kyushu Institute of Technology).

Though the time for investigation was very limited due to wide damage area, 46 bridges at 31 sites were able to be observed with two bridge engineers of Ministry of Public (MOP), Chile. Intensive damages were particularly developed in highway bridges constructed with the concession to the private company. Those damaged bridges were mostly simple-supported pretension PC girder without the crossbeams as shown in Photo 1. The structural proposal in terms of the cost reduction and shortening of construction period may result in the intensive damage including the unseating of the decks. It would be also remarkable that the skewed decks were extremely moved in the transversal direction, which caused deck rotation. Furthermore, subsidence of substructures was observed in bridges on the liquefiable soil condition around Concepcion and Arauco (see Photo 2).

Investigation results were immediately presented to bride engineers of MOP as shown in Photo 3. The seismic design technique developed in Japan was also introduced and we discussed the restoration of damaged bridges and unseating mechanism of the skewed bridge. Moreover, we introduced the traffic serviceability judgment based on the damage in bridge, the history of earthquake damage and seismic design of bridges, seismic assessment technique for damaged bridges and information of seismic design method for improving the seismic performance of Chilean bridges.

The mission of the damage investigation for bridges will be expected to keep in touch with MOP and exchange information of the seismic design technique.



(Contact: CAESAR)

12,000 people enjoyed cherry blossom viewing
- Public opening of CERI's Chishima cherry trees attracted visitors -

Many people enjoyed cherry blossom viewing (Since a cherry trees bloom in a low position, it can be enjoyed also at a wheelchair.)

The cherry blossom looked fantastic with the annual illuminations.

Signboard introducing priority research projects - many people stopped to look at it.

CERI opened its premises to the public for nine days between May 6th and 14th to view the blossoms of more than 200 Chishima cherry trees along the Shojin River. Seedlings from Kiritappu, Hamanaka-cho, Akkeshi-gun in eastern Hokkaido were planted in 1984 by staffs who wished to beautify the premises with plants that could be enjoyed by everyone for many years. Trees that were young at that time have now grown to 3 to 4 meters in height. The mass of blooming cherry blossoms in May is a delight for the eyes of passers-by.
This year is the 12th year of the public opening of the cherry trees. Although the opening was delayed until the long holiday period this year, as there were many cold days in April, it was introduced on TV, in newspapers and in many other media. It attracted more than 12,000 visitors, including tour groups on chartered buses.
This year, CERI's activities were introduced to visitors by setting up a signboard presenting its research contents and distributing pamphlets. Many people stopped in front of the signboard and looked at the research contents with interest.
We aim to make CERI like cherry trees that take root in the ground of the cold region and attract many people.

(Contact: Planning Division, CERI)

FY2010: Meetings of the Sub-committees of the PWRI Research Evaluation Committee

Subcommittee Structure

Subcommittees of the PWRI Research Evaluation Committee (External Evaluation Committee) met between May 21st and Jun. 4th.
At PWRI, the External Evaluation Committee consisting of highly specialized distinguished experts from the academic world and private sector meets annually to evaluate important research selected from among research performed by PWRI.
Eight subcommittees are formed under the External Evaluation Committee. The External Evaluation Committee deliberates based on the results of the evaluations by each subcommittee, and as a result of its deliberations, submits opinions to the Chief Executive of PWRI.
The eight subcommittees are numbered Subcommittee No. 1 to No. 8 according to their evaluated fields. Subcommittees No. 1 to No. 4 evaluate research by the Tsukuba Central Research Institute, ICHARM, and CAESAR, while Subcommittees No. 5 to No. 8 evaluate research by CERI in Hokkaido.
This year, the subcommittees focused on confirming the progress achieved by priority project research, as their members offered a variety of opinions such as, "The outcomes should be disseminated not only within Japan but also overseas.", "Shouldn't the proposed outcomes include a little more cost-cutting efforts?", and "We are counting on obtaining and applying patents as specific outcomes of the research".

The External Evaluation Committee which met Jun. 14th deliberates concerning the opinions of the subcommittees meetings.



(Contact: Evaluation and Coordinate Section)