国総研ニューズレター
NILIM News Letter

No.54Autumn 2015

■ Technical Support and Assistance with Relief Supplies in Response to the Torrential Rain

Disaster of September 2015 in Kanto and Tohoku regions

Planning and Research Administration Department, Planning Division
In response to damage caused by the Torrential Rain of September
2015 in Kanto and Tohoku regions, the NILIM dispatched experts
in three areas, rivers, sediment disasters, and road structures, to thedisaster region, where they provided technological support. The also
provided relief supplies to Joso City in Ibaraki Prefecture.
The Torrential Rain of September 2015 in Kanto and Tohoku
regions breached levees on 19 rivers including the Kinugawa River,inundated the land along 67 rivers, and triggered sediment disasters
at 177 locations in 17 cities and prefectures (October 5, 9:00 a.m.),
resulting in considerable damage and the deaths of 8 people (Fire andDisaster Management Agency, October 2, 6:00 p.m.).
The NILIM responded to the disaster by sending a total of 13 experts
in the three fields of rivers, sediment disasters, and road structures, toplaces such as the site of damage on the Kinugawa River, the location of asediment disaster in Nikko City, the site of road damage, and the locationof a levee breach in Tohoku (October 1).

in torrents where sediment was run off were such that a second
disaster could occur, and provided technical advice with monitoringand observation methods and precautions necessary to establish awarning and evacuation system in Serizawa and to take emergency
countermeasures at the mouths of torrents.
The road structures experts were sent to locations in Tochigi
Prefecture where roads were collapsed by the runoff of sediment tosurvey causes of damage and give technical guidance with precautions
to be taken during restoration.

Photo: Masayuki Yabu, Head of the Pavement and Earthworks Division,giving technical guidance concerning the restoration of a collapsed road(Nikko City)

Photo: Hattori Atsushi, Head of the River Division briefing media
representatives on the survey of levee-breaching (Kinugawa River)Of these, the river experts surveyed the causes of damage by thebreach on the Kinugawa River beginning in the early morning of theday after the disaster (September 10), and also carried out a survey ofcauses of levee breaches in the Tohoku region and provided technicalsupport for emergency countermeasures.

And since the dispatch of the experts, technical support has continued,including guidance with emergency restoration work methods andhelping a committee formed to plan permanent countermeasures. And
to study measures to relieve damage including human suffering, theNILIM is continuing its energetic activities including a joint survey byexperts on rivers and buildings conducted to clarify the characteristics
of building damage caused by river inundation, and to clarify damageoccurrence mechanisms.

Photo: Providing goods to Joso City in Ibaraki Prefecture (transportinggoods with city employees and volunteers)

Photo: The Sabo Department conducting a survey of the state ofsediment runoff in a torrent (Nikko City, Serizawa District)

The sediment disaster experts conducted a field survey in theSerizawa District of Nikko City to find out whether or not conditions

And in addition to technical support offered to deal with damage,disaster use emergency materials have been provided to Joso Cityin Ibaraki Prefecture where the Kinugawa River caused widespreadflood damage in its basin. Beginning the evening of the day of thedisaster, the NILIM started to communicate closely with Joso City,and with the cooperation of the Geographical Survey Institute, Public
Works Research Institute, and the Building Research Institute, began
to supply water, food, blankets and other goods that Joso City requires
early the next morning.
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■ Field Survey on Tsunami triggered by Earthquake occurred off central coast of Chile in 2015
Coastal, Marine and Disaster Prevention Department, Coastal Disaster Prevention Division
The NILIM took part in a field survey of the tsunami and inundationgenerated by the earthquake, which occurred off the central coast ofChile, covering the 330km long survey area in order to identify thecharacteristics of the tsunami along with the status of damage andevacuations.
The earthquake occurred on September 16, 2015 around 19:54(Chile time) off the central coast of Chile. Its scale was magnitudeof 8.3 and it brought damage to the coastal areas of the central Chile.
Mr. Kazuhiko Honda, senior researcher in the Coastal, Marineand Disaster Prevention Department of the NILIM, took part in thefield survey team jointly formed by researchers from the NILIM, thePort and Airport Research Institute (PARI) and Chuo University andJICA expert dispatched by Ports and Harbours Bureau of the Ministryof Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and visited thedamaged areas in Chile to conduct the field survey (from September
21 to 24). The survey was part of a Japan-Chile Joint Research
Theme, Enhancement of Technology to Develop Tsunami-resilient
Community, (representative research body: PARI) under the Scienceand Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development(SATREPS) between the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST)and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
The field survey was carried out over an area extending 330km
from north to south across the hypocenter to measure the traces of thetsunami in 9 coastal districts including ports (55 points in total) and to
conduct interviews with inhabitants.
The tsunami height in the survey areas reached as high as 5m to 6m
depending on the topography, and in some cases shipping boats werewashed up into harbours, with the mean tsunami height of 3m to 4m.
Many of the inhabitants started evacuating immediately after
they felt the strong tremor without awaiting a tsunami alert which isdesigned to give warning 10 minutes after an earthquake has occurred,
resulting in the tsunami causing fewer fatalities.

Photo : stranded fish boat (in Coquimbo)

Photo : damaged house (in Puerto Aldea)■ Practical Use of Cultural Heritage in Town Planning and Community Development- Web Database of Plans for the Maintenance and Improvement of Historic Landscape Research Center for Land and Construction Management, Landscape and Ecology Division

The division has opened a website on various initiatives todevelop historical communities in cities designated under the Lawon the Maintenance and Improvement of Historic Landscapes in aCommunity.
In order to maintain and improve historic landscapes, the Lawon the Improvement and Maintenance of Historic Landscapes in aCommunity was enacted in 2008. In 49 cities and towns designatedunder this law (as of October 2015), regional governments havecarried out community development projects to preserve each regionʼsunique traditional lifestyle, buildings with historical value and theirsurrounding environments, taking advantage of preferential treatment
offered under this law and various subsidy programs.
In order to share ideas andknow-how in the field of historicpreservation and communitydevelopment, in collaboration
with local governments of thedesignated cities, the NILIM hasbuilt an integrated database of
their initiatives to preserve historic
Search information by topic
landscapes. It has collectedandorganized
informationsuch as components of historiclandscapes to preserve (historicbuildings, traditional events andlocal industries, etc.), outlines ofplans and projects, and programs
2that have been utilized for historic preservation in the designated cities.
In July 2015, the Rekimachi Information Website was openedat the NILIM website to provide the database information not only
to concerned personnel in the designated cities, but also to public
officials and private companies involved in historic preservation andto ordinary people interested in community development. It is hopedthat this website will be of great use in sharing ideas and know-how
about various initiatives which the designated cities have carried out
for the historic preservation, and through the utilization of historicand cultural resources, each regionʼs attraction will be enhanced andthereby advance tourism promotion further.

Details * Rekimachi Information Website
http://www.nilim.go.jp/lab/ddg/rekimachidb/

Web page of each designated city 

Photo: Image of the website

■ Publication of the 2015 Commentary on Structure Related Technical Standards for Buildings(Editorial Supervision) and Contribution by the NILIM

Building Department, Evaluation System Division
The 2015 Commentary on Structure Related Technical Standards
for Buildings has been published. This is an introduction to theNILIMʼs contribution to its contents and its publication.
The Commentary on Structure Related Technical Standards forBuildings1) 2) was published in June 2015. This book, which is a revisionof a book with the same title published in 2007, contains complete
explanations of structure related regulations under the BuildingStandard Law of Japan. This book is handled as a document whichmust be first referred to when performing work related to building
approvals or judgments of the correctness of structural calculations.
The Building Department worked with researchers involved in thestructure and materials fields in other departments and at the Building
Research Institute and with the bookʼs editorial committee and actuallywrote the document. Its contents include items such as the following
which the NILIM studied to tackle research challenges in the course ofGeneral Technology Development Projects and as part of its work on
Building Standards Provision Promotion Projects3).

・ Explanations of the contents of and technological background to structure
related regulations enacted and revised (special ceiling fall prevention
regulations incorporated after the Great East Japan Earthquake forexample) during the eight years since the previous revision.
・ Descriptions of conditions etc. for the use in a range in conformity with thelaw of knowledge including the most recent standards and guidelines of theArchitectural Institute of Japan (AIJ Standard for Structural Calculation of
Reinforced Concrete Structures (revised 2010) for example).

The NILIM participated in the editorial supervision of the publicationof this book, and at the same time, took part in lecture meetings on
the book held by its publishers at 21 venues centered in major cities
throughout Japan (held for structural designers and building officials
etc., they were attended by a total of 6,500 people) where the NILIM
offered lectures on technical precautions and practical problem points
when applying the contents of the book to structural design of buildings,
clarifying items frequently pointed out in the course of building
approvals and judgments of the correctness of structural calculations
in order to give explanations so that the technical standards it stipulates
can be applied correctly.
In the future, we will not only conduct research, but make efforts
to spread knowledge of technical standards in order that society
is supplied with safe buildings structurally designed appropriatelyreflecting research achievements.

Details *1）Commentary on Structure related Technical Standards for Buildings
Published by the Japan Building Disaster Prevention Associationand the Information Center for Building Administration, June 2015.
2）Information Center for Building Administration
http://www.icba.or.jp/index/index_law.html
3）Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism: BuildingStandards Provision Promotion Projects
http://www.mlit.go.jp/jutakukentiku/house/jutakukentiku_house_fr_000016.html■ Overview of Budget request in Fiscal 2016
Planning and Research Administration Department, Planning Division
Administrative Coordination Department, Planning and Coordination Division
The NILIM conducts research on the infrastructure that will
create the society of the future by focusing its sights on five priority
themes: “Disaster Prevention, and Disaster Mitigation and Crisis
Management”, “Infrastructure Maintenance”, “Intelligent Utilization”,“Innovative Work Execution Method Development”, and “Regional
Revitalization and Livability Improvement”.
In its 2016 budget request, it proposes to tackle five new challenges
in four fields: preventing and mitigating storm surge disasters,
efficiently prolonging the service life of port and harbor facilities,
improving the productivity of building sites, popularizing goodquality housing, and reducing energy consumed by construction
equipment. (230 million yen: including 13 ongoing challenges)• Disaster Prevention, and Disaster Mitigation and Crisis Management− Research on Disaster Risk Reduction Measures for Port-related
Area against Storm Surge

To enhance the safety of port and harbor regions from storm surges
to ensure the foundations of a sustainable economic society, theNILIM develops technologies to advance observations of tide levels
and waves and to clarify and evaluate storm surge risk information.
• Infrastructure Maintenance− Research on a practical evaluation method in order to prolong theservice life of, and effective use of, existing port and harbor facilities

The NILIM develops a simple and practical method to evaluate
the state of facilities by utilizing inspection results. That method
provides optimal timing and area of inspections and repairments.
• Innovative Work Execution Method Development− Research on work site productivity improvement in public capitalprovision processes

The NILIM is responding to the aging of the skilled work force
and decline of young people entering the work force, by developing
construction production systems (design and execution, supervisionand inspection methods etc.) that permit the appropriate use oftechnologies that help lower labor requirements on construction
sites below levels required using conventional technologies.
• Regional Revitalization and Livability Improvement− Development of simplified structural performance evaluation
methods for wooden houses

The NILIM develops methods that can be used to easily evaluate
the structural performance of wooden houses in order to promotewooden housing performance indication system.
− Developing methods of evaluating the energy saving effects ofautomatic control technologies for building equipment

The NILIM provides new evaluation methods for the energy
saving effectiveness of control methods based on automatic control
technologies for building equipment, which are counted on to play
important roles in future energy saving buildings.
In addition to the above, the NILIM, as a research institute under the MLIT,
receives budgets from this ministry which it applies to survey and researchconcerning housing and public infrastructure improvement related to rivers, roads,buildings housing, ports and harbors, airports etc.

Details * document presented at a press conference on August 28,
2015. (NILIM web site)
http://www.nilim.go.jp/lab/bcg/kisya/journal/kisya20150828.pdf

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● Schedule of Principal Events
Scheduled Dates

Event Name

December 3

The Lecture Meeting of NILIM (2015)

December 9

Lecture Meeting on Port and Airport Research in Kyushu 2015
Lecture Meeting on Port and Airport Research in Kobe 2015

December 14

Lecture Meeting on Port and Airport Research● Publication (research achievements) < September, 2015-November, 2015 >Download from here * http://www.nilim.go.jp/lab/bcg/siryou/index.htm

PROJECT RESEARCH REPORT of NILIM
No.
49

Title of Paper

Project Leaders

Development of Land Suitability Assessment Technology for City Planning

Urban Planning Department

TECHNICAL NOTE of NILIM
No.

Title of Paper

Names of Divisions

798

Damage to Ports and Port-related Facilities by the 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku
Earthquake

Coastal, Marine and Disaster
Prevention Department/
Port and Harbor Department

843

Damage to Road Bridges by the 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake andTsunami

Bridge and Structures Division

844 Research on Fatigue Durability Evaluation for Highway Bridge Concrete Slabs
850

Bridge and Structures Division

Report of the Evaluation Sub Committee of NILIM in FY 2014 Evaluation Committee ofNILIM

851 The Analysis of Cargo Flow of Maritime Container Cargo of Japan in the United States

Research Administration andEvaluation Division
Port Systems Division

852

The Current Status of SCM by Japanese Firms
And Future Direction of Port Logistics Service Improvements

Port Planning Division

853

Study of the Influence of Security Checking to Ensure Smooth Passage through Gates atContainer Terminals

Disaster and Emergency
Management Division

854

Damage of Nemuro Port and its surrounding areas due to the storm-surge in 17
December 2014

Coastal Disaster Prevention
Division

855

Estimation of Sea Level Rise Using the Tide Gauge Records in Port Areas and TheirCharacteristics

Coastal Disaster PreventionDivision

856 Study on the impact of climate change on the water quality of dam reservoirs

Water Cycle Division

Guideline for planning and design of disaster prevention parks ( Draft )( September 2015 revised version )Landscape and Ecology
Division

857● We provide you with research information.
・ 2015 Annual Report of NILIM

This web site introduces NILIM activities throughout the year, including research activities and achievements,
future initiatives, etc.
Go to this web site: * http://www.nilim.go.jp/english/annual/annual2015/ar2015e.html

National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
Asahi 1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0804, Japan(Tachihara) Tachihara 1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0802, Japan(Yokosuka) Nagase 3-1-1, Yokosuka, Kanagawa, 239-0826, JapanAutumn 2015
TEL:+81-29-864-2754 FAX:+81-29-864-4322
http://www.nilim.go.jp/english/eindex.htm
Edited and Published by National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management

No.54

国 総 研 ニ ューズ レ ター

NILIM News Letter