PWRI Symposium Held in Commemoration of the 90th Anniversary

 PWRI was founded as a civil engineering research institute of Ministry of Interior on Sep. 30th, 1922, in 2012, it celebrated its 90th anniversary. In celebration, the PWRI Symposium in Commemoration of the 90th Anniversary was held at the Sabo Kaikan Hall, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, on Oct. 1st, 2012. There were 493 Symposium participants, mainly from private corporations over a variety of fields.

 Following the opening greeting by Dr. Uomoto, Chief Exective of PWRI, a congratulatory speech was given by Mr. Ken Okuda, then Vice Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

 The first half of this commemorative symposium consisted of three sessions. Specialists and scholars outside of PWRI were invited as commentators and delivered lectures.

 In the first session, under the theme of “PWRI’s Cooperation with Industry and Academia,” the speaker focused on the absolute necessity of PWRI’s continued cooperation with industry and academia in its research and proposed more aggressive actions for cooperation in order to promote complementary assistance in each other’s activities. In the second session, focusing on “Disasters and PWRI,” the speaker addressed how technical assistance in disaster situations is one of the major roles PWRI is expected to play, and emphasized the need to appropriately respond to disasters that are becoming more intense and occurring more frequently than in the past and to emerging types of disasters. He then encouraged PWRI to conduct further R&D with these new disasters in mind. In the third session, titled “The World and PWRI,” each commentator gave a brief account of international operations, and a proposal was offered for a global strategy which, in consideration of PWRI’s overseas activities, clearly defines the direction of PWRI’s international operations to be established.

 A special lecture in the latter half of the Symposium was titled “Lessons Learnt from the Great East Japan Earthquake and Future Measures against Earthquakes and Tsunami,” and was delivered by Prof. Masanori Hamada, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Major in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Waseda University. He talked about failures in predicting earthquakes and tsunami, the confusion that occurs thereafter, the establishment of study of tsunami resistance, the promotion of counter measures, the response to a Tokyo inland earthquake, and particularly, the risk to the industrial complex along the coast of Tokyo Bay and measures to prevent this risk.

 The final part of the Symposium was a panel discussion chaired by Dr. Uomoto with six specialist participants, including MLIT’s Vice-Minister for Engineering Affairs, Mr. Kikukawa. Under the title of “PWRI Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow”, the panelists actively discussed what PWRI should do in the future based on the efforts PWRI has made so far and the contents of the sessions held in the Symposium.

 Participants made various comments about the Symposium. Some positive ones include “Very interesting lectures,” or “I hope you will hold other valuable symposiums in the future,” and some harsh ones include “Need to improve research,” or “I hope you’ll develop ideas so as to materialize research results in a practical and easily applicable manner.” Participants also hoped to listen to lectures on themes such as “preventive maintenance against the aging of bridges,” “technology to handle disasters and advanced research themes,” or “water pollution in developing countries.”

 PWRI is determined to create better symposiums in the future as providers of excellent research results and with an eye to the next millennium and the farther future. We greatly appreciate those who participated in the Symposium.

(Contact: Planning and Management Division)

Civil Engineering Day 2012 Attracted So Many Visitors!

 Since the Chinese characters of 18th November shows the same Chinese characters of Civil Engineering, the event had to do with it. PWRI and the National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management (NILIM) opened their facilities to the public on Nov. 10th.

 Thanks to the fine weather, the event attracted 1,111 visitors, more than twice as many as last year.

 The experiment facilities and systems that were opened to the public this year include the pavement test field, the moving car non-contact power supply system, the dam hydraulics laboratory, the outdoor river experiment facility, the exhibition of sampled decommissioned bridge members, the test track, and the debris flow generator. A debris flow reproduction experiment was conducted using the debris flow generator, which attracted many visitors in particular. According to visitor comments, the debris flow that was reproduced looked very realistic, and the mechanism of occurrence was easy to understand. It was the first time that the outdoor river experiment facility was opened to the public. Many visitors were taken aback by the scale of the flowing water experiment in the river model, and let out a cry of surprise. Also opened to the public for the first time was the moving car wireless power transmission system. An experimental radio-controlled car run using the system made many visitors eager for this new technology to be commercialized. The high-speed driving experience enjoyed great popularity as usual. Many visitors who experienced it expressed their joy at such an extraordinary experience.

 A stamp rally was also conducted so that visitors could certify their visit to the open facilities. Visitors who collected four or more stamps were awarded a concrete medal, made by the staff, as well as a certificate. This year was the first time the awarding part of the stamp rally took place. Seeing the facial expressions of the visitors who had medal put around their necks was moving. Some smiled happily and others shyly.

 In addition to those opened facilities, the hands-on civil engineering workshop designed to have people experience civil engineering technology also had many visitors, particularly children. Participants in one of the classes, “Let’s Make Concrete!”,learned to make paperweights out of concrete by hand. It was so popular that numbered tickets for applicants went like hot cakes.

 In addition to those regular events, the venue was further vitalized by other attractions including a working car exhibit, and the experience of riding in that car, both offered by the Kanto Regional Development Bureau of MLIT, the awarding ceremony of a cardboard bridge contest to honor the great achievements of contestants, or fifth graders of elementary schools in Tsukuba city, a brass band performance by Tsukuba municipal Azuma Junior High School students and performances of Japanese drums, violins, and a musical band played by volunteers of PWRI.

 All the staff of PWRI hopes that this public opening event made the visitors feel close to civil engineering technology. The public opening of Civil Engineering Day is designed to make it easy and entertaining for the general public learn about civil engineering technology, which we take for granted in our daily lives. We look forward to seeing you again next year.

(Contact: Planning and Management Division , General Affairs Division)

Fifth CAESAR Symposium Held

 CAESAR held the fifth CAESAR Symposium at the Hitotsubashi Memorial Hall in Tokyo on Aug. 30th, 2012 (Photo 1). The event program is shown in Table 1. The first half was dedicated to the theme of maintenance of road bridges in local areas.

 Prof. Haruo Ishida, University of Tsukuba, specializes in national land planning, city planning, and traffic planning, and actively travels countrywide on business. In his keynote lecture, entitled “Local Vitalization and Maintenance, Development and Utilization of Infrastructures,” the professor talked about the issues of the development and maintenance of social assets from a variety of perspectives including the economy, mobility, and local society (Photo 2).

 The next lecturer was Prof. Kazuya Tamada, Maizuru National College of Technology, who holds bridge maintenance management workshops for engineers of local municipalities to provide support for the formulation of repair plans to lengthen bridge service life. Based on the experience he has gained from these activities, his lecture was composed of three themes: the current status of bridge management in the northern part of Kyoto Prefecture, cultivating engineers, and problems that municipalities face.

 Mr. Yukimi Naito, Director of Road Management, Chubu Regional Development Bureau, MLIT, introduced the Bureau’s efforts to support local governments. Specifically, the lecturer talked about a case of corrosion damage to a suspended bridge under the management of the city of Hamamatsu and explained the proactive technical support that the Bureau provided to the city in the process of road blockage, repairing and strengthening the bridge, lifting the road blockage, and monitoring.

 In the latter half, the Symposium addressed the Specifications for Highway Bridges revised last March. Mr. Takashi Tamakoshi, Head of the National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management, explained the main purport of the provisions that were revised to better consider maintenance while referring to specific case examples. Dr. Junichi Hoshikuma, Chief Researcher of CAESAR, explained a variety of research and investigations conducted by CAESAR, including the analysis of the lessons learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake, which provided reference data for the revision of the Specifications.

 In addition to those lectures, Mr. Yoshitomi Kimura, Chief Researcher of CAESAR, outlined the activities conducted under the CAESAR Maintenance Technology Exchange Meeting since its foundation, when it was established about a year ago to promote the exchange of technical information.

 The symposium was attended by some 420 people from road administration and private corporations related to various fields including the design, construction, and maintenance of bridges. The Symposium presented a variety of valuable findings, including the differences in institutional systems for bridge maintenance between the national government and local municipalities, many of the problems facing local administrations, and the current status of various local support schemes that are underway.

 We are very much grateful to the lecturers for the useful lectures they delivered despite their busy schedules, and to the participants who listened earnestly to the lectures.

Note: The lecture materials are available on our website:

http://www.pwri.go.jp/caesar/lecture/lecture05.html(Japanese Only)

(Contact: CAESAR)

Capacity Development for “Effective Flood Management in River Basins of the Philippines” (ADB project TA7276-REG)

 ICHARM, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical& Astronomical Services Administration(PAGASA), and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) co-organized a capacity development training program for flood risk management on 26th-28th Sep. in Metro Manila and on 2nd-4th Oct. in Tuguegarao City, Philippines, as part of ADB’s Regional Capacity Development Technical Assistance for Supporting Investments in Water-Related Disaster Management (ADB TA7276-REG), based on the partnership agreement between ICHARM and ADB. It attracted a total of 63 administrators and practitioners from different agencies involved in the flood risk management in the Pampanga and Cagayan River basins, such as PAGASA, Department of Public Works and Highway (DPWH), Office of Civil Defense (OCD), National Irrigation Administration )NIA), as well as local municipalities. ICHARM sent its Team Leader Toshio Okazumi and five other staff members for the training program. The training program addressed three key points: (i) aspects of flood damage; (ii) countermeasures; and (iii) necessary data. Participants of the training program took part in lectures on the survey results of flood damage and flood risk management in the two river basins. They also actively participated in group discussion on flood risk management, application of Integrated Flood Analysis System (IFAS), and development of an action plan for future flood risk management (For details of IFAS, please visit the ICHARM website: http://www.icharm.pwri.go.jp/research/ifas/).

 Through the training program, the participants reaffirmed the importance of collaborations among relevant organizations and the necessity of accurate data. They also had a better understanding of usefulness of flood forecasting, possible uses of satellite-based precipitation data, and importance of ground observation for flood early warning in the two river basins. According to the post-training questionnaire results, over 90 percent of the participants found the training program “useful for flood early warning” and “informative.” Some participants even re-quested additional training program to make full use of IFAS in their work.

 In the Philippines, where serious floods occur every year, flood forecasting technologies are expected to help mitigate possible flood damages. Especially, remote sensing technologies such as IFAS are highly expected to be introduced as supplement information in poorly-gauged river basins. Reflecting such high expectations, the training program in Metro Manila was broadcasted by the national broadcasting network at a news program.

(Contact: ICHARM)

PWRI’s New Technology Showcase Held around Japan

 Intended for a variety of engineers and specialists engaged in the provision or management of social infrastructures, the PWRI New Technology Showcase program holds technical presentations on new technologies, among the R&D results of PWRI, which are considered highly applicable to field works and related services, and provides technical consultation on applying these technologies. The Showcase has been held in Tokyo and various other parts of the country every year since FY2002.

 The FY2012 Showcase, as shown in the following table, has already finished, and many people participated in the program.

 Since this year is the 90th anniversary of PWRI, the Showcase was held as a part of the commemorative events. The program for each venue selected themes that seemed to be of high interest in that area. Lecturers were also invited to deliver special lectures at each venue. Something new added to the Showcase this year was the invitation of the persons from MLIT, the Japan Civil Engineering Consultants Association (JCCA), and the Japan Federation of Construction Contractors who actually apply these technologies to their field works. Their roles were to make comments to technical presentations so that the audience could better understand the relevant technologies.

 In Takamatsu, the program was held jointly with the construction-related technology fair sponsored by a Council, which is composed of members of the construction industry in Shikoku, including the Shikoku Regional Development Bureau. The fair attracted some 2,400 people during its two-day period. This turnout produced a synergy effect for the Showcase, and the Showcase was given the chance to communicate PWRI’s technologies to many people.

 Detailed information on technologies presented at these Showcase programs is available on our website:

 http://www.pwri.go.jp/jpn/seika/shingijutsu.html(Japanese Only)

Venue	Tokyo	Hiroshima	Takamatsu	Kumamoto	Sapporo
Period	Tue., Sep. 11	Wed., Oct. 3	Fri., Nov. 2 (Construction Fair continued until Sat., Nov. 3)	Wed., Nov. 14	Thu., Jan. 17
Location	Rengo Kaikan Hall	KKR Hotel Hiroshima	Takamatsu Symbol Tower	Kumamoto City Hall Major Hall	ASTY45
Technologies covered	10 technologies including 1)4 for disasters response, 2)4 for functional improvement, and 3)2 for quality control	11 technologies including 1)4 for control and monitoring, 2)3 for onsite execution of work, and 3)4 for survey and measurement	6 technologies including 1)3 for response to disasters, 2)1 for bridge foundation, and 3)2 for environmental response	11 technologies including 1)3 for pavement, 2)1 for bridge foundation, 3)3 for concrete, 4)2 for environmental response, and 5)2 for response to disaster prevention	12 technologies including 1)3 for disaster response 2)1 for traffic safety, 3)2 for the environment and recycling, 4)3 for maintenance, and 5)3 for concrete
Special lecture	former Director-General of NILIM	Graduate School of Letters, Hiroshima University	-	Mayor of Kumamoto City	Center for Advanced Tourism Studies, Hokkaido University
No. of participants	297	299	Showcase 127  Fair 2,400	256	360

Commentating in Tokyo: MLIT	Commentating in Hiroshima: JCCA
Special lecture in Hiroshima: Hiroshima University	presentation in Takamatsu: PWRI
Visitors to the booth in the fair	Special lecture in Kumamoto: Mayor of Kumamoto City

(Contact: Construction Technology Research Department)