Infrastructure Development Institute - Japan

Road Asset Management PlatformActivities

1Infrastructure Development Institute - Japan

Road Asset Management Platform Activities
JICA established Road Asset ManagementPlatform (RAMP) in October 2017 for thefollowing purposes.
⚫ To develop a plan to support road asset
management in developing countries whereincreasingdemands
forproperinfrastructure management are expected.
⚫ To support overseas expansion of Japanesecompanies with road asset management
related technologies.
⚫ To cultivate core human resources who areexpected to lead road asset management indeveloping countries.

1. Background
Currently, Japan International Cooperation
Agency (JICA) is implementing technicalcooperation projects to strengthen themaintenance capability of road infrastructure inapproximately twenty countries. We arecultivating a wide range of core humanresources who will be responsible for roadadministration in developing countries.
JICA has set out efforts to establish apreventive maintenance-type of maintenancefor road infrastructure in developing countries,
and to establish an effective and efficient roadadministration
basedonroad
assetmanagement methods.

Figure 1: RAMP overview
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Infrastructure Development Institute - Japan(2) Knowledge Co-Creation Program (KCCP)In order to develop core human resources
related to road maintenance technology indeveloping countries, road administrators orengineers from each country are welcomed andintroduced into our organization as short-term
participants
andlong-term
participants(master's and doctoral students). The
Transportation field Knowledge Co-Creation
Program comprises four major categories:
administration, construction, maintenance, andtraffic safety. Each category consists of nine
individual courses, covering everything related
to road administration, from planning tomaintenance.

2. What is Road Asset Management?
Asset management of infrastructure is aconceptofsystematicandstrategic
management of public infrastructure, which
was originally developed in the United States ofAmerica in the 1980's, when the country wasfacing problems of infrastructure deterioration.
Under this concept,infrastructure isregarded as public a asset, and it shall bemaintained and improved systematically andstrategically.
Road asset management is a type ofinfrastructure asset management which isapplied to road assets, such as roads, bridges,
and other road structures. The purpose of theconcept is to implement strategic management
plan to minimalize life cycle cost of road assets
through the following activities; to understandthe current state of the structures properly, toestimate the degree of degradation, and torepair or reinforce infrastructure at the besttiming.

Photo-1 KCCP (Lecture)

Figure-2 Maintenance PDCA conceptual
diagramPhoto-2 KCCP (Concrete test)

3. RAMP Activities(1) Support Committee
In order to promote RAMP activities, the"Road Asset Management Platform Support
Committee" has been established for thepurpose of providing professional and technicaladvice on the implementation contents and its
examination.At the 2nd Committee meeting
held on November 20, 2020;previous
activities, the status of long-term participants,
and the implementation status of theKnowledge Co-Creation Program (KCCP) werereported.

Photo 3. KCCP (Cultural experience)3

Infrastructure Development Institute - Japan
activities that have established a supportsystem.
In addition, based on the memorandum ofunderstanding with Japan Society of Civil
Engineers (JSCE), cooperation regarding
academic research and human resource
development have been enhanced throughtechnical cooperation projects.
(1) Case 1: Transfer of bridge inspection
technology using VR
In the Republic of Zambia, technology
transfer related to bridge maintenance havebeen carried out, for four years since 2019,
aiming to improve bridge maintenancecapability in the country. However, due to theCovid-19 pandemic and travel restrictions,carrying out the exercises on-site is currently
difficult.
Under these circumstances, the use of virtual
reality (VR) technology was considered to beeffective for technology transfer in remote areas.
Currently, discussions with JICA to introduce
this technology into practice are being held;requesting HOME360 Co., Ltd. to produce theteaching material content and conducting
remote exercises.

Figure-3 Knowledge Co-Creation Program
4. Study abroad system at Japaneseuniversities
The international student system started in2018, where four students were accepted in2018, fivestudents in 2019, and fifteen
students in 2020.There are nine
hostuniversities: University of Tokyo, Hokkaido
University, Nagasaki University, Ryukyu
University, Kanazawa Institute of Technology,Gifu University, Shibaura Institute ofTechnology, Osaka University, and Tohoku
University.

Photo 4. International student program (Sitevisit)
Photo-5 Teaching materials by VR

5. Technical Cooperation projects

For technical cooperation projects in the fieldoftransportation,
Japanesemaintenance/renewal/management
technologies have been actively applied,
cooperatively aiming to establish an efficientand effective maintenance system. Heretofore,
implementation of bridge inspections by drones,
damage detection by AI, measurement
equipment for simple road surface properties
measurement equipment, repairment materials,
and slope measurement equipment intoduction?
have been carried out. Moreover, after theproject, private companies have been enforcing

In the exercise, the Japanese side will
explain about the inspection method, damage
state, damage causes, etc. using VR, whichallows its counterpart to experience it at thesame time in the same space, receiving an
extremely positive response as a result. The
main feature of this system is in the VR space.
It is different from other systems in which
meetings and lectures can be held in real time
on-site (example: bridge surface). If thecounterpart has a question, direct advice can beprovided at the same time as well.
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Infrastructure Development Institute - Japan(2) Case 2: Bridge maintenance using drone
technology
In the Philippines, for the "Quality Control
Improvement Project for Construction andMaintenance of Road and Bridges", inspection
analysis surveys using drones aiming to inspectcomplex bridges or bridges located in the sea,
where access for inspection is complicated, havebeen carried out.
These images taken by drone during
inspections are analyzed in 3D using AI
technology, which is used to estimate thedamage state.
Currently, this technology is limited todamage such as concrete cracks, cross-section
defects, corrosion, and paint peeling. Studies toenable more advanced bridge inspection anddiagnosis through accumulation of various
damage data, are being enhanced for future
prospects.

The amount of data in videos and CG has
significantly expanded, resulting in a concern
for stable communication depending on theinternet environment of the country.
This system requires a pre-shooting of 360degree images, but the 360-degree images
compress high-quality images shot at 14K thatmaintains 8K resolution, which reduces data
traffic to 10MB or less. In addition, a functionthat can zoom in on 360-degree images has beenadded. This makes it possible to confirm themain points while being aware of the entire
bridge. As a result, it is considered to be effective
for establishing a mutual understanding oftechnology transfer.
In the future, various utilization methods,
not only for exercises but also for design andconstruction, will be considered.

Photo-6 Technical experts to teach (Japaneseside)

Photo-8 Inspection of the main tower of asuspension bridge using a drone

Photo-7 Engineer receiving guidance (Zambianside)

Photo-9 3D model created from photographic
data5

Infrastructure Development Institute - Japan
6. Future outlook
Human resources, materials, and capital
shortage issues are presented not only indeveloping countries but also in local
governments in Japan.
Therefore, by deepening and refining Japan’scontribution in developing countries throughusage of latest technology, we plan to provide
further feedback regarding the technology tolocal governments in Japan.
It is expected for
the PDCA cycle oftechnology to be implemented between Japanand developing countries.

Photo 10. Analysis result of concrete crack

Figure 4. Conceptual diagram of technology
utilization cycle

7.Conctact Information
Nippon Engineering Consultants Co., Ltd.(NE)
Overseas Projects Department
Gentaro NAGASAWAEMAIL: nagasawa_gen@ne-con.co.jp
TEL:＋81-80-4364-3721
https://www.ne-con.co.jp/ne-con/pub/english/

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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 todeveloping countries, to promote international exchange of information andhuman resources, and to support globalization of project implementation
systems targeting both developed and developing countries in the field ofinfrastructure.
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since1996 to introduce information related to public works and construction
technologies developed in Japan, to foreign countries. We have distributed
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