December 2019 No.86
Japanese Infrastructure Newsletter

IDI

QUARTERLY
InfrastructureDevelopment

Institute—JAPANCONTENTS
21ｓｔ Infrastructure Technology Development Award 2019
Practical use of monitoring technology in track maintenance and its application to maintenancemanagement.

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Automatic Placement System of Dam Concrete

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Infrastructure Development Institute – Japan (IDI)
Plaza Edogawa-bashi 3F. 1-23-6, Sekiguchi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 112-0014, JAPAN
Tel: +81-3-5227-4107 Fax: +81-3-5227-4109 E-Mail: idi17@idi.or.jp Website: http://www.idi.or.jp/en/Infrastructure Development Institute - Japan

2１ｓｔ

Infrastructure Technology Development Award 2019Japan Institute of Country-ology and Engineering

As a result of examination, institutes and(JICE) was established as a public interest

researchers with the following technologies werecorporation to promote construction engineering

awarded 21st prizes.

in Japan by conducting cutting-edge research anddevelopment activities.

The grand prize is “Practical use of monitoring
technology in track maintenance and its

As more incentives should be provided for

application to maintenance management”.

construction technology researchers and research

And the two excellence prizes are “The Automatic

institutes to enhance the level of construction

Placement System of Dam Concrete”, and “Rapidengineering more effectively, JICE commenced

Removal Technology for Replacing Reinforced

Infrastructure Technology Development Award

Concrete Decks of Composite Girder Bridges”.

with Coastal Development Institute of Technology(CDIT) under the auspices of the Ministry of Land,

The grand prize and one of the two excellence

Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT).

prizes are introduced below.

Seventeen technologies competed for the 21st
Infrastructure Technology Development Award.

Any inquiries/ comments please contact to JICE :In principle, the applicants’ technologies should

Homepage: http://www.jice.or.jp/

have been developed within the past five years(Japanese version only)

and applied to the real sites already.

E-Mail: webmaster@jice.or.jp

December 2019 No.86
1Infrastructure Development Institute - Japan

Practical use of monitoring technology in track maintenance and its application to maintenance management.
Establishment of maintenance method using a track facility monitoring device.

1. Background of the technology development
and its opportunity
There are two primary purposes. The first is tointroduce Condition Based Maintenance (CBM)
to track maintenance. We have been carrying
outregularmeasurements

usingspecial

inspection vehicles and improving based on thePhoto1 Track geometry measurement device

results, yet it was challenging to introduce
CBM from various conditions. The second is toincrease maintenance productivity. Inspectionof the track’s condition is mainly conducted bya visual inspection. Due to its structuralcharacteristics and other factors, it requires
experienced staff with skillful techniques, thus
improving productivity is an urgent issue.

Photo2 Track material monitoring device

3. Technical coverage
50 lines of JR East (Yamanote Line, Keihin Tohoku

2. Technical contents
Japan's first technology that can monitor thecondition of the track was developed andLine, Ohu Line, Tohoku Line, Uetsu Line, etc.)

Track

4. Technical performance(1) In addition to visualizing the track deterioration

maintenance work is generally divided intostatus (Fig.1 and photo3) and estimating the time

maintenance of track geometry and replacement ofof repair (Fig.2), an e-mail notification (Fig.3) will

track materials. However, the track facility

be sent when an emergency repair is necessary.

monitoring device (photo1 and photo2) mounted inTherefore, the repairs can be made promptly.

successfully

put

into

practicaluse.

the commercial trains can be used to measure trackgeometry and track material conditions remotely toimprove inspection efficiency and quality anddelivered optimization of repair plan. Also, amonitoring center was established, and thedevelopment of new data processing technology,
standardization of processing operations, systemdevelopment, and establishment of inspection andFig.1 A chart generated by the track geometry monitoring
devicemaintenance methods for equipment was obtained.

Photo3 Images from the track material monitoring device
2December 2019 No.86

Infrastructure Development Institute - Japan(3) Optimization of the operation plan for large
repairmachines

canbemadeusingahigh-frequency track geometry data. Since theoperation results can be automatically evaluated, it
is now possible to assist in the selection of repair
methods.

5. Social implication and development
The track maintenance industry is also facing aFig.2 The deterioration prediction for the track geometrylabor shortage, and our company needs to improve
productivity by around 20% over the next 20 years.
Furthermore, the social demand for safety andstability of railways is increasing, and the socialimplication of this technology is significant. In therailway business, the role of the track maintenancedepartment to maintain the track is essential. Also,
there is enough potential to be utilized by many
domestic and foreign operators. In terms oftechnology, advanced development can be expected
through the application of artificial intelligence
technology.

Fig.3 E-mail notification of track geometry(2) The visual inspection can be made 12 times
more efficient from "once a week" to "once every
three months," and established an efficient visualinspection method by operators (Photo4) without
relying on skilled engineers.

6. Implementation results
26 lines of JR East (Yamanote Line, Keihin
Tohoku Line, etc.), as of December 2018.
Technology Developer: East Japan Railway Company／
Japan Railway Track Consultants Co.,Ltd
Joint Developer: Railway Technical Research Institute／Kawasaki Heavy Industries,Ltd／
Hitachi High-Tech Fine Systems Corporation／
JREAST information Systems Company
E-mail: yoshida-tatsuya@jreast.co.jp
TEL: +81-3-5334-1244
FAX: +81-3-5334-1191

Photo4 An efficient visual inspection method by engineers
December 2019 No.86

3Infrastructure Development Institute - Japan

Automatic Placement System of Dam ConcreteCompletely Automatic Production of Dam Concrete, Conveyance, and Placing

1. Background and Impetus for theTechnology Development
In the construction of a concrete gravity dam,Concrete batching plant
Rail rope cable craneConcrete bucket

the concrete placing cost accounts for about
60% of the dam body construction cost.

Aggregates store

Therefore, we believe that rationalization of thework will contribute greatly to increasing
productivity.
Also, in this construction work, the works ofFig. 1 Dam body and layout of concrete production,
conveyance, and placement plant

production, conveyance, and placement of theconcrete are repeated from tens of thousands oftimes to hundreds of thousands of times.

2. Outline of the Technology
The objective of this technology is to greatly

Conventionally, concrete placement work

improve the productivity of dam construction byrequired many skilled operatives because thefully automating the series of operations fromwork proceeded according to the following

concrete production, conveyance to placement.

procedure.

1) The concrete placement plan is drawing up by

1) The placement engineer will give aninstruction to start placing at the concrete
placement site.

inputting the concrete placement areas, the mixing
composition of the concrete to be placed, etc.
2) Then input the data of concrete placement2) Mixing concrete with the specified mixing
composition and quantity.

plan into the system. In response, each item ofplant is operated, such as the aggregates storage

3) Take a mixed concrete into a concrete

facilities, concrete batching plant, transfer car,bucket on the transfer car which provided

concrete buckets, aerial cableway crane, etc. areunderneath the concrete batching plant.

linked together to repeat a series of operations fully4) The crane operator conveyances theconcrete bucket on the transfer car to theplacing site using a crane.

automatically. (Fig. 1 and Fig. 2)
Previously technologies had been established foreach element such as automatic operation of the5) The signal operator on the dam body lower

concrete batching plant, automatic operation ofthe concrete bucket after the engineer in charge

fixed or travelling cable cranes, etc., but thisconfirming the surrounding area.

technology is unprecedented technology that fullyIn

particular,

aerialcableway

crane

operation requires experience and skill, so at

automated the series of operations by means ofover the entire scheme of concrete placing.

present when there is a large turnover rate of

In addition, because of it has been consideredskilled construction labors, it was considereddifficult to perform three-dimensional control ofimportant that substituting practiced technicalpositionskills through automatize.

anti-swaying and landing, the aerial cableway

coordinates,

suchasautomatic

crane has not been implemented by automation sofar.
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December 2019 No.86

Infrastructure Development Institute - Japanlinks the operation control information of the aerial

3. Scope of the Technology Application
Automation of facilities related to concrete

cableway crane with the three-dimensional position

production, conveyance and placement, and an

coordinates of bucket to be transported, it had

integrated system to control them has been built, so

become possible to control each position coordinate

it can be applied not only to cable cranes but also toand established a fully automated method.

concrete dam construction work using aerial

Therefore, by constructing a mechanism thatcableway types.

4. The Effect of this TechnologyThe effect of this technology is improved
placement cycle time, cost reduction due to a
reduction in placement-related skilled labors and to
be cleared away the shortage of skilled labors
related to placement.
(a) Aggregates transport plantIn

particular,itcanbeexpected

that

streamlining by fully automating the operation oftheaerialcableway

crane

that

requiresthree-dimensional operation to improve about 10%
cycle time, the number of labor required for
concrete placement has been reduced to 2/3 and it
will be possible to perform the operations
sufficiently with unskilled labors.
(b) Concrete batching plant
Batching plant

5. Social Significance and Advancement
Increasing the productivity of the construction
business and clearing away the shortage of skilledlabors related to construction in Japan are urgent
issues,necessitating

theacceleration

ofcomputerized construction using ICT is required.
Transfer car

This is the new technology that can contribute tosuch requirements of society, and it consider that it(c) Concrete conveyance facility

has great social significance.

6. Experience of Application of theTechnology
Yanagawa Dam (dam body) construction, August
2018 to November 2018
Applicant : Shimizu CorporationTechnology Developer : Norikazu Yamashita,(d) Concrete placing
Fig. 2 Fully automated concrete production, conveyance,and placement

E-Mail : yamashita_n@shimz.co.jp
TEL : +81-3-3561-3883
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December 2019 No.86

Infrastructure Development Institute - Japan

About IDI and IDI-quarterly
Infrastructure Development Institute-Japan (IDI) is a general incorporated
association operating under the guidance of Ministry of Land, Infrastructure,
Transport and Tourism of Japanese Government.
IDI provides consulting services to facilitate International Assistance to developing
countries, to promote international exchange of information and human resources,
and to support globalization of project implementation systems targeting bothdeveloped and developing countries in the field of infrastructure.
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developed in Japan to foreign countries. We have distributed the journal toadministration officials in more than 90 countries around the world by e-mail.
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December 2019 No.86