CONTENTS

AJCE and its Activities

Noriaki HIROSE

1

History of FIDIC and AJCE

Akihiko HIROTANI

3

The 'Smart' Way Forward

Francis Kiyoshi MORIMURA 4

What is needed to consultants(From the field of reconstruction assistance)

Masatsugu KOMIYAAJCE Activity 2012
Activity of Young Professionals in 2012
FIDIC EC Meeting in Tokyo
FIDIC-AJCE Joint Seminar 2012

5

7
9
11
13

Globalisation of Consulting Services〜Share the Challenge with the President of FIDIC〜

Young Professionals Exchange Programme 2012

16

-A Strong Partnership of CA and AJCE-

JICA's Initiative on Dissemination of Dispute Board

28

Project Accomplishments by AJCE Members

30

Editor's note

AJCE Members

I-Ro-Ha Cards is a traditional card playing game that has inherited from ancient days in Japan.
The cards are composed of 47 pictures on which each card shows Japanese character,
Hirakana . I-Ro-Ha is an orderly way of expressing Hirakana, similar to alphabet in English. It starts
from I , then Ro , then Ha and so on. It is played by 2 to several persons. All the cards are
randomly spread out on rush mat, called Tatami . A card reader
reads a short phrase starting with one of the 47 Hirakanas. Players
compete by picking up the card of the same Hirakana that was readby the card reader. A person who got maxim number of cards wins thegame. I-Ro-Ha Cards is played with friends or family in new year
period. People drink green tea while playing the cards.

NEWS LETTER 2013

AJCE and its Activities
souther n Pacific coast of Japan. It wasestimated that the arrival time of tsunami will
be much shorter than what happened in 2011,
thus different types of countermeasures will be
required to minimize the loss of life anddamage to properties and resources.
In addition to the natural disaster issue, aging
infrastructures in Japan have become the mainsocial problem in recent years, since these
massive structures were constructed during theperiod of high economic growth in the 1950s
and 1960s. Consulting engineers are required
to study the actual status and propose
effective and economical solutions for thischallenging problem.
FIDIC Conference
The FIDIC Annual Conference was held in
Seoul, Republic of Korea last year for which
AJCE sent 61 participants comprising AJCE
members and their families. The keyword of theconference was "GREEN", and a lot of
discussions and knowledge-sharing were madeto address global environmental problems. The
sources of these problems have been createdmostly by the current and previous generations,
therefore, we have a responsibility to hand overthis planet to future generation in a better living
condition that guarantees the preservation andrestoration of natural and social environment.
For this, consulting engineers should take a leadrole in providing adequate planning, design
and maintenance of economic and social
infrastructures in a sustainable way. During theconference period, AJCE participated in the
General Assembly Meeting of the Asia-PacificRegion of FIDIC (ASPAC).

Noriaki HIROSE
President, AJCE
President, NIPPON KOEI CO., LTD

Annual Overview in 2012
Almost two years have passed since massive
earthquake and tsunami attacked easternJapan on March 11, 2011.
Althoughrehabilitation and reconstruction programs
have been carried out in full-swing indevastated areas, many people are still forced
to live like refugees in temporary housing built
by the gover nment, and hundreds ofthousands of affected people remain to suffer
as the local economy continues to slow down.
During this period, consulting engineers
provided various services for infrastructure
restoration, urban planning, debris disposal
management, anti-disaster measures, andevacuation planning as faithful advisors to the
public authorities concerned.

AJCE Annual Seminar
The FIDIC Executive Committee Meeting washeld in Tokyo in May of last year. AJCE took thisopportunity to provide an annual seminarwhich focused on the globalization of theWe have to be prepared for the next megaearthquakes which are likely to occur in the1NEWS LETTER 2013

consulting business in collaboration with FIDIC.
About 140 participants attended the seminar.
In the seminar, Mr Geoff French, FIDIC President,
presented the vision and mission of FIDIC, which
will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its
founding this year. During his stay in Japan, Mr
Geoff French and I made a courtesy visit to
stakeholders of infrastructure development
including the Ministry of Economy, Trade andIndustry (METI), Ministry of Land, Infrastructure,
Transport and Tourism (MLIT), and Japan
International Corporation Agency (JICA).

Japanese construction industry. The needs forthe understanding of FIDIC conditions ofcontract are expanding rapidly among
Japanese consultants and contractors inrecent years due to the global economy. AJCE
has organized FIDIC training course Module 1"Practical Use of the FIDIC Contract" andModule 2 "Management of Claims and the
Resolution of Dispute" in December 2012. The
lecture was given by Mr. Geoffrey Smith,accredited trainer of FIDIC. About 30
participants coming from consulting firms,
contractors, law fir ms, and public offices
attended this 4-day training course.

Young Professional Exchange Program(YPEP)The AJCE and Consult Australia (formerly ACEA)
have maintained the Young Professional
Exchange Program since 1996 and more than
120 young engineers have participated in thisprogram so far. AJCE has invited 11 Australian
young engineers from nine consulting firms for a
3-week training program in Japan last year.
Many of them visited the reconstruction sites
where the Great East Japan Earthquake andTsunami attacked in 2011. At the end of the
program, a workshop called "Young Summit"
was held to confir m the outcome of the
program which was attended by more than 40
participants, including for mer Japanesetrainees.

Future Activities
It is expected that a fast-growing economy will
be maintained in emerging countries anddeveloping countries, especially in Asia.
However, authorities in these countries are
struggling to solve serious traffic congestionand pollution challenges due to rapid
urbanization. The preparation for an
emergency response to natural disasters isdeemed inadequate in many big cities in Asia.
Japan has long-standing experience in copingwith urbanization, pollution, and natural
disasters. I believe that we, Japanese
consulting engineers, should take a lead role ineffectively utilizing and sharing our abundant
experiences and knowledge to the people inthese other countries, who have been sufferingfrom problems of this kind in the world.

FIDIC Contract Training Course
For many years, AJCE has regularly provided
seminars on FIDIC conditions of contract for the2NEWS LETTER 2013

History of FIDIC and AJCE

Akihiko HIROTANIMember, Executive Committee, FIDIC
Chairman, Oriental ConsultantsCentenary of FIDIC
FIDIC is celebrating the Centenary of its
foundation. The event will take place on 15th to
18th, September 2013, at Barcelona and details
can be found at the HP address of
http://www.fidic2013.org.

join from all over the world. The Federation had
truly become the world voice.
AJCE at the Beginning (Quoting from the AJCE
Homepage)/// The Association of Japanese Consulting
Engineers (AJCE) was established in 1974, ///and is a member of the International Federationof Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) since 1975,
representing Japanese consulting engineers.

FIDIC Establishment(Quoting from the FIDIC
Homepage)/// in 1913, a number of consulting engineers
met to discuss the possibility of forming a global
Federation. The meeting was a success in that it
led to the formal constitution on 22 July 1913 of
FIDIC, Fédération Internationale des Ingénieurs
Conseils, or later, the International Federation ofConsulting Engineers. The founding principles
adopted were Quality, Integrity, andSustainability. There were 59 participants at theinaugural meeting; official delegates from
Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France,
Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Russia,
Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the USA.
Three countries, Belgium, France and Switzerland
decided to found the Federation. /// (UnQuoting)
The Federation had maintained to be a strong
voice for consulting engineers, though, due tovarious disturbances, it remained mostly afederation in Europe. However, a big changecame after World War Two, other MAs started toInternational Consulting Engineering Industry
Engineering technologies have kept beingtransferred from higher developed countries tolesser ones. So are the MAs of FIDIC expanding
from higher to lesser, as witnessed by thechronicle of changes as shown in the tablebelow. No project in these days could be carriedout without involvement of local consultants. Thisdevelopment in the consulting industry meansthat the business model of any country involved
has to be modified accordingly. That is, insteadof utilizing many engineers from higher
developed countries, more engineers from local
project countries will be involved. This is in turn acapacity building for making people tounderstand more and more the FIDIC principles
which are Quality, Integrity, and Sustainability.

Chronicle of Changes in MA of FIDIC
Term

Number of MAs

Number of MAs Changes in Countries/Economies of MAs

1913
1925
1935
1945
1955
1965
1975

3
7
12
9
13
19
32

1985

45

1995

61

2005

77

2012

94

Belgium, France, Swiss
Germany, Holland, Poland, Austria
Italy, Hungary, Sweden, Denmark, Norway
Denmark, Norway, Belgium left
England, Rejoin(Denmark, Norway, Belgium)
Australia, South Africa, USA, Canada, Ireland, Iceland
Luxemburg, Colombia, Malaysia, Singapore, India, New Zealand, Brazil, Hong Kong,Iran, Israel, Japan, Nigeria, Spain,
Bangladesh, Korea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Surinam, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Indonesia, Malawi, Zambia, Tunisia,
Thailand(later left),Botswana, Portugal, Turkey, Finland, Egypt, Namibia, China(Taipei), Mexico, Czech, Slovenia, Uganda,Estonia,
Greece, Peru, Croatia, Guinea,
China, Nepal, Viet Nam, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Belarus, Ecuador, Latvia, Lithuania, Morocco,
Rumania, Slovakia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia Herzegovina, Venezuela
Mali, Jordan, Kazakstan, Russia, Lebanon, Serbia, Uzbekistan, Kuwait, Sudan, Montenegro,Mozambique,
Palestine, Chile, Colombia, Dominican, Peru, Thailand

3NEWS LETTER 2013

The 'Smart' Way Forward

Francis Kiyoshi MORIMURA
Vice President, AJCE
President, P. T. Morimura & Associates, Ltd.

The collapse of the Japanese bubble economy
in 1991 was followed by two so-called 'lost
decades' of economic stagnation. In March of
2011, the Tohoku region suffered the devastating
effects of the earthquake and tsunami. These
events in turn caused the accident at the
Fukushima nuclear power plant which
compounded our economic misfortunes.
However, with the election of a newadministration at the end of 2012 and theannouncement of firm intentions to break awayfrom deflationary policy and the implementationof new measures, we have begun to see stock
market highs, a weakening Yen and signs ofimprovement in the markets. The New Year(2013) has heralded a long awaited return to
optimism regarding the outlook for economic
recovery.
The unstable power supply and demandfollowing the Tohoku earthquake in 2011
generated expectations of an expanding
market for renewable energy. Several major
consulting engineers' firms are entering energy
related markets with a focus on renewableenergy, such as solar and small scalehydroelectric power generation, which have thepotential to generate new business. There is
growing activity aimed at a wide range ofbusiness, such as the development of large scalesolar power generation (mega solar), the use ofprofits from power generation to support
renewable energy, as well as the operation andmaintenance of energy. On the other hand,
there are increasing opportunities to use energy
effectively, not only for enterprises but also for
local governments and households.
Recently, slogans such as 'Smart cities for theprevention of global warming - building societies
with stable power supplies and low
environmental loads' have appeared. 'Smartcities' make use of IT to optimize the power
demand network of entire regions and are
attracting increasing attention. In fact, as part ofthe'SmartCommunity
MasterPlan
Development, an initiative by the Ministry of
Economy, Trade and Industry, plans for the sevenstricken areas are now taking shape andconstruction work has already begun. The drive
towards building smart communities is gaining
pace not only in the stricken areas but
throughout Japan. Since the earthquake, housebuilders have been increasingly offering smart
houses and storage batteries for emergencies,
and there is a great need for smart communities
with distributed energy systems.
Creating a master plan for the seven stricken
areas concerns local businesses involved inelectricity and gas, cars, IT and communications
and electrical appliances, as well as
construction companies. From the viewpoint ofcommunity development focused on improving
disaster preparedness, there is considerable
interest in the 'smart community' as a way tomeet the minimum energy needs of regions,buildings and households, even in the event of apower outage during a natural disaster. For thisreason, the promotion of renewable energy
usage has a central role in the constructionindustry's efforts to build smart communities inconcert with earthquake disaster reconstruction
and urban development.
In Tokyo, in large scale facilities (offices, hotels,commercial facilities etc. of about 140,000m2)
built over the last 20 years, we have beenworking on improvements aimed at 'therealization of energy efficiency and power
independence'. Improvements include theintroduction of gas cogeneration systems tocope with power outages, the use of non-utility
generation facilities to secure 90% of thecontracted power at the time of emergencies,
and strengthening the effectiveness of BusinessContinuity Planning (BCP). Developers of such
facilities, while first focusing on operational
performance, also need to consider the buildingof smart communities.
The areas affected by the earthquake of 2011
require more than simple reconstruction, and theconcept of smart towns and cities offers a way
forward.

4

NEWS LETTER 2013

What is needed to consultants(From the field of reconstruction assistance)

Masatsugu KOMIYA
Director, AJCE
Executive Director, Yachiyo Engineering Co., Ltd.

In the numerous kinds of the projects which I
experienced, peace-building and post-disasterreconstruction projects have left a deep
impression on me. These projects require
extensive knowledge and experience. In
addition, unwavering toughness even in a severe
environment is needed. I would like to introduce
the requirements of the consultants for theseprojects. I hope this will help young consultants
who are working in the world.

construction, water, sewage, electricity, etc., arerequired urgently. Furthermore, management
ability and advanced technology are
indispensable.
《What is needed to consultants》
Consultants who engage in reconstruction
assistance around the globe will be required thefollowing capabilities:
Technical capabilities with creativities
Creativity, in addition to expertise, is required toformulate realistic solutions by using limited
information.
Teamwork
A team with several experts will be formulated tosolve many challenges. In the spirit of "One forAll. All for One", well-coordinated teamwork is
required.
Sense of responsibility
Affected areas are generally characterized
dangerous and poor environment, bad hygiene
and shortage of commodities. To overcome
these situations, ''sense of responsibility isessential. that would contribute to the area by
attracting global attention through representativesof the home country''
Presence of mind and cheerfulness''Presence of Mind'' is required to analyze thesituation calmly and dispassionately. At the sametime, it is important to be able to give courage
to those who have lost their vitality.
Business sense to win international competition
Consultant activity in reconstruction assistance isa kind of philanthropy. However, it is also a placeof international competition. We should acquire
astute sense of business to carry out the plan
according to our country's policy.

《Need for peace building support》
Even in the 21st century, conflicts in the world
have not been eliminated. On the other hand,as the global economy continues to expand,relations between nations have become closer
and closer. We should not be indifferent to theconflicts of the world as a member of theinternational community.
My participation in peace-building support
began in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the electrictransmission line rehabilitation project in 1997.
Over 200,000 people lost their life in the war. It
came to an end by integrating the disputed
areas into one nation. The aim of my project was
to promote economic recovery by connecting
the transmission lines in the areas. I cannot forget
my field survey experience in a mine-infested
field. In the project, it was extremely difficult toharmonize views among many donors as well as
conflicting parties. However know-how andlessons learned from the project are useful tosubsequent activities.
《Efforts to support post-disaster rehabilitation project》
We can not stop large-scale disasters, such as
earthquakes, tsunami and floods. I experienced
large scale post-disaster rehabilitation projects,
e.g., the Indian Ocean tsunami reconstruction
by Sumatra earthquake of 2004. Disasterrecovery is categorized by self-help, mutual
assistance, and public assistance. We,
consultants, mainly work on public assistance torebuild infrastructures. Comprehensive plan ofmultiple sectors for urban planning, road

Finally, the most important keyword is ''mutual
trust''. It leads to successful projects. I believe''mutual trust'' is also leading to world peace andit is the clue to effective reconstruction
assistance projects.

5NEWS LETTER 2013

6

NEWS LETTER 2013

AJCE Activity 20127

NEWS LETTER 20138

NEWS LETTER 2013

AJCE Activity 2012

Activity of Young Professionals in 2012
Kazutoshi AKASAKA
Chair, Young Professionals Sub-Committee, AJCE
Nihon Suido Consultant Co., Ltd.

Activities of YP sub-committee (YPSC)
In 2012, activities of YPSC are as follows;
1) YP Award (Young Professionals Award) for YPs,
2) ''Yakai'', Social Networking Event,
3) YPEP (Young Professionals Exchange Program)organized by YPSC,
4) Contribution to FIDIC YPF.

presentation to call attention from the floor.
Everyone was able to share a lot of information
through their presentation. It was a wonderfulexperience for YPs and us as an organizer.
The YP Award was given to "Activity of Landscapeseminar'' by CTI Engineering Co., Ltd.

2) ''YAKAI'', Social Networking Event
After the YP Award contest, a social networking
event called as ''Yakai'' was hosted by YPSC.
About 40 YPs from several companies participatedand enjoyed exchange of communication
among them. This event provided an opportunity
to disseminate activity of YPs.

1) YP Award for YPs
On 29th Aug 2012, the 1st YP Award contest washeld by YPSC. Eight groups representing respective
firms entered into the contest in whichapproximately 40 YPs participated as contestants.
Name of participants was introduced in their

3) YPEP organized by YPSC
Young Professionals Exchange Program (YPEP) wasestablished in 1996 between AJCE and CA(Consult Australia). In the past 15 years, about 130
YPs participated in the program. The trainees of
YPEP are now taking major roles in the YPSC.
In 2012, for the first time, visit-training of YPEP wasplanned and initiated by YPSC that was carriedout from 15th Oct to 2nd Nov. We welcomed 11
trainees form Australia.
At the orientation held on 15th Oct, they
introduced themselves in Japanese as they wererequested to study Japanese prior to the visit-

9NEWS LETTER 2013

Welcome Party

Farewell Party

training. All trainees were fantastic in introducing
themselves in Japanese. As a part of training,
program, they visited the Tōhoku region wheredevastating earthquake and Tsunami occurred in
March 2011. This experience might have given
them an unforgettable impact. In the second
weekend of the program, they traveled to ancient
city of Kyoto and Nara and experienced harmony

between old and new culture there.
On the last day (2nd Nov), Young Summit washeld and 2 topics were discussed. In the second
topic of ''Market growth'', the following opinions
were exchanged.
- Understanding the difference between Japanand Australia in culture and business environment,- Needs of education for marketing,- Collaboration between Australian CE andJapanese CE., etc.

4) Contribution to FIDIC YPF
A member of YPSC representing AJCE YPs isserving as a member of FIDIC YPFSC to support
FIDIC YPF activities.
In the 2012 FIDIC Seoul conference, many young
professionals participated and they contributed
greatly for supporting the operation of theConference. We are quite certain that suchcontribution would enhance activities of YPs.
For future
In 2012, activity of current YPSC has entered into
the third year. We could achieve the goals thatwere addressed at the beginning of our activities.
But we are just standing on the starting line.
We believe it is very important to keep these
activities continuously in the future. We recognizethat difficulties lie in our front, too.
So, we need not hurry, progress step by step andsteadily while enjoy learning more than ever.
Finally, this year's achievement was not possible
without dedicated contributions by YPs and bighearted support and understanding by many
seniors. We would like to thank and count on yourcontinuous support, understanding andencouragement on our activities.

Young Summit

Fare well Party

10

NEWS LETTER 2013

AJCE Activity 2012

FIDIC EC Meeting in Tokyo
Masafumi MIYAMOTO
Vice President, AJCE
President, TEC International
Hirotani, Noriaki Hirose, Masafumi Miyamoto andYoshi Yamshita visited following authorities.

FIDIC Executive Committee (EC) Meeting was heldin Tokyo on 9th and 10th May, 2012.
FIDIC EC meetings are held three times a year, thelast one where annual conference is held and theremaining two in Committee member's homelandcountries. This time, the meeting was held in Japan,
homeland of EC Member, Akihiko Hirotani.
FIDIC EC Meeting, Courtesy visit to authorities, FIDICAJCE joint seminar and welcome dinner party, etc.
are briefly reported in the followings.

-Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI):
Director- General, Mr. Susumu Atsuki-Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport andTourism (MILT): Vice-Minister for Engineering Affairs,
Mr. Naoyosi Sato
-Japan International Cooperation Agency(JICA):
Vice-president, Mr. Masato Watanabe

1) FIDIC EC Meeting
Date: 9th (Wed.) and 10th (Thu.) May, 8:30 to 17:00
Venue: Izumi Garden Conference Center
Attendants: 9 FIDIC EC Members, FIDIC secretariat,
AJCE Observers: Yoshi Yamashita, Tomoyuki Kitano,
YP Sub-committee member

Courtesy Visit to JICA

Geoff French talked to the representatives of theabove authorities about FIDIC's mission and vision.
Mr. Atsuki , (METI) made comments thatcooperation and support from FIDIC is expected incapacity development, FIDIC contracts andproject management.
Mr. Sato (MLIT) made comments on therecognition and importance of consultant's role oncontract management and promotion of Quality
Based Selection (QBS).
Mr. Masato Watenabe (JICA) also pointed out theimportance of QBS and commented thatcooperation between JICA and FIDIC for capacity
building shall be promoted.

FIDIC EC members

FIDIC EC meetings were held for two days eachfrom 8:30 in the morning to 17:00 in the evening.
Nine FIDIC EC members, Tomoyuki Kitano,representing young professional and Yoshi
Yamashita attended the meeting.
2) Courtesy Visit to Authorities
Date: 7th May, Afternoon
Prior to the ECM, Geoff French, Enrico Vink, Akihiko11NEWS LETTER 2013
3) FIDIC-AJCE Joint Seminar
Date: 8th May (Tue.), 13:30 to 17:00
Venue: Hotel Le Porte Koujimachi
Participants: Approximately 140
Title: Globalisation of Consulting Services - Share theChallenge with President of FIDIC-.
The seminar was held by taking an opportunity of
FIDIC President's visit to Japan. (Refer to the article
on the seminar in this News Letter for details.)
4) FIDIC-AJCE Joint Press Interview
Date: 8th May (Tue), 17:15 to 18:00
Venue: Hotel Le Porte Koujimachi
At the interview, FIDIC president Geoff Frenchstressed ''Occasionally I think that Japanese
consulting industry is divided into many sectors.
AJCE is expected to represent strong voice for the
CE industry.'' Responding to this, AJCE president
Noriaki Hirose said that AJCE is the sole entity that iscomposed of members from different sectors inJapan.
However, due to the fact that each sector
establishes own association, member firms of AJCE
are only a part of each sector. Despite of thisdifficult situation, AJCE has been continuously
exerting efforts to increase its domestic
representation.

Welcome Dinner Party

6) Tour in Tokyo, to Nara and Kyoto
Spouses of FIDIC EC Members visited Asakusa area,
Meiji Shrine, Odaiba area and other places in Tokyo
on May 9th and 10th while FIDIC EC meetings were
held.
Tour to Kyoto and Nara was conducted from 11th
(Fri.) to 13th (Sun). They all enjoyed the tour to oldcity of Japan.

FIDIC-AJCE Joint Press Interview

5) Welcome Dinner Party
Date: 9th May (Wed.), 19:00 to 21:00
Venue: Grand Ark Hanzoumon Hotel
Welcome dinner party was held in the evening of
9th May. A total of 49 persons including FIDIC EC
and AJCE EC Members and their spouses
participated. All enjoyed joyful party.

Senso-ji Temple, Asakusa

We believe that FIDIC EC Members enjoyed thebest sprig season in Japan.

12NEWS LETTER 2013

AJCE Activity 2012

FIDIC-AJCE Joint Seminar 2012
Globalisation of Consulting Services〜Share the Challenge with the President of FIDIC〜

Hiroto YAMAUCHI
Professional Development Committee, AJCE
Oriental Consultants Co., Ltd.

Date and Time : May 8, 2012 13:30-17:00

the history of FIDIC. Starting from only three member

Venue : Royal Crystal, Le Porte Kojimachi

countries, FIDIC has grown to now include 1.5 million

Number of Participants : Approx. 140

CEs of 60,000 firms located in 94 countries. In
conjunction with its Annual Conference, acelebration will be held in Barcelona in 2013 tocommemorate the 100th anniversary of FIDIC's
foundation and Mr. French warmly welcomed thefloor to participate.
Mr. French explained that FIDIC's vision and mission
have recently been redefined to add more weighton its contribution to sustainable development and■Introduction

stakeholder involvement. In introducing FIDIC's eight

Major global issues that people face now such as

objectives, he stressed the necessity of preventing

over population, urbanization, and climate change

corruption for ensuring integrity, a crucial element

are closely linked to the fields in which Consultingof FIDIC's policy. He also emphasised theEngineers (CE) conduct their business. CEs areimportance of raising CEs' social status to secure

hence expected to play a leading role intalented people. Continuous effort has to beaddressing the issues and meeting the ever-

made, he said, to improve and strengthen FIDIC's

increasingly broad and complex demands. Inviting

contract documents.

distinguished speakers from the public sector,
private sector, and the CE industry, AJCE organizeda joint seminar with FIDIC on May 8 (Tue), 2012. The
seminar aimed at clarifying the roles of CEs inJapan and identifying the challenging issues toovercome for making a meaningful contribution to
the society.

■Centenary of FIDIC-Vision and Mission of FIDIC

Mr.Geoff French
President, FIDIC(Mr. Geoff French)
Geoff French, the President of FIDIC, first explained

13NEWS LETTER 2013
■ FIDIC's Approach towards Developing CE Industry

account; JPY560 billion) was less than half the(Mr. Enrico Vink)

amount of its peak year in FY1997 (JPY1.17 trillion). In

Mr. Enrico Vink, the Managing Director of FIDIC,themeantime,

however,

infrastructure

presented an overview of FIDIC's organizational

development in Asia had not been able to keep up

structure, activities, publications and conference.

with the pace of its economic growth indicating

Mr. Vink shared the fact that infrastructurethat there is a role to play for ODA.

investment accounts for 10% of the GDP in many

In terms of overseas business development, Mr.

countries and stressed the significant contribution

Hashiba introduced three directions: i) export ofmade by CEs in underpinning economies.

Japan's superior technologies and skills; ii)

With regard to FIDIC's activities, he explained thatpackaging strategy; and iii) Public-Private

FIDIC has been consistently placing importance on

Partnership (PPP). He introduced MLIT's basic

quality, integrity and sustainability. He also reported

policies of: “from expansion to consolidation”; “fromthat FIDIC has been making considerable efforts inpublic to private”; and “from domestic tosharing professional knowledge and experienceoverseas”. He explained that the Ministry has been

through publication, training, and international

carrying out: i) policy discussions in the project

conferences. With regards to conferences, heformation stage; ii) top sales in the tendering stage;urged participants to join the FIDIC Annual

and iii) establishment of a 'hotline' (consultation

Conference held in Seoul in Sep. 2012 under thedesk) in the implementation stage to support

theme of Green Procurement. Towards CEs, heJapanese firms' business overseas. Mr. Hashiba also

advised to try to flexibly accommodate the ever-reported that MLIT provided a platform forchanging needs of the society.

exchanges of information and opinions between
the public and private through the “Council on PPP
in Overseas Road Development” and the “Council
on PPP in Overseas Water Infrastructure
Development”. In the end, he encouraged CEs tobe actively engaged in project formation.

Mr. Enrico Vink
Managing Director, FIDIC■ Promoting Overseas Infrastructure Projects throughPublic-Private Partnership (Mr. Katsuji Hashiba)
Mr. Katsuji Hashiba, Deputy Director General for

Mr. Katsuji Hashiba
Deputy Director General for Engineering, MLIT

Engineering, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure,
Transport and Tourism (MLIT), first explained thatODA budget has continuously been decreasing.
He stated that the budget in FY2012 (general

14NEWS LETTER 2013
■ ODA Projects and Expectations for CEs (Mr. Kazunori

Japan has remained excessively dependent on

Miura)

their clients and hence their skills have not

Mr. Kazunori Miura of Japan International

developed as much as they did overseas.

CooperationhisHe emphasised the importance of being involved

expectations to CEs and FIDIC in Japanese yen

in all stages of project development: formation,loan projects. He first provided a brief overview ofplanning, study, design, and construction

the changes in loan projects in terms of thesupervision. He also stressed the importance ofcontract amount and regions and fields

nurturing globalized human resources. He

implemented. He then mentioned that JICA andconcluded by stating that it is necessary for

FIDIC cooperate with each other in, inter alia,

Japanese CEs to overcome the status quo where

applying FIDIC's contract documents to JICA

CEs compete over specific technical components

projects and promoting the Dispute Board.

to step up into managing programs.

Agency(JICA)

sharedMr. Miura first requested CEs to properly understandand manage FIDIC's contract documents
mentioning that there have been disputes in past
JICA projects. He then requested FIDIC to makefurther efforts in: developing the capacity of a wide
range of stakeholders; improving the contract
documents; and playing a leading role in improving
the relationship between the clients and CEs.

Mr. Akihiko Hirotani
EC Member of FIDIC and Chairman of Oriental Consultants Co., Ltd.

■Closing Remarks
With the participation of the President andManaging Director of FIDIC, this seminar successfully
highlighted the current status of CE industry inJapan and its future prospects. In the seminar, bothbusiness opportunities that reside overseas andvarious supports provided by the government in

Mr. Kazunori Miura
Director-Geneal, JICA

Japan were shared and so were the challenges to■ History of Development of Japanese CEs and Its

be addressed. We hope that the information andOverseas Business Development (Mr. Akihiko Hirotani)knowledge offered here would help those willing

Mr. Akihiko Hirotani, an Executive Committee (EC)participants to better carry out their business overse

Member of FIDIC and Chairman of Oriental
Consultants Co., Ltd., first shared with the floor thehistory of CEs in Japan and emphasised that
determination and actions are required to be
successful overseas. He pointed out that CEs in

15

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AJCE Activity 2012

Young Professionals Exchange Programme 2012
-A Strong Partnership of CA and AJCEKeiichi KANAI
Vice Chair, Professional Development Committee, AJCECTI Engineering Co., Ltd.
Australia and Japan have been strong partners for
decades in the ever-rising Asia Pacific region, which is
now leading the global economy with its vast market
and excellent productivity. In the consulting
engineering industry, AJCE has been keeping a strong
tie with Consult Australia (CA) for many years. One of
the greatest achievements by these two institutions so
far is Young Professionals Exchange Programme(YPEP), which started in 1996 to promote good
relationship and friendship between Australian andJapanese young consulting engineers. YPEP has
offered precious opportunities for more than 130
young engineers to experience foreign corporate
cultures and establish human network in the past 17
years. YPEP has been highly praised by FIDIC as agood example of international training program foryoung professionals.

impact in their minds. In the meantime, the trainees
worked hard at their host firms according to theprograms, and made many Japanese friends throughcountless social events (Nomikai).
The weekend trip to Kyoto and Nara, former capitalcities of Japan famous for their old shrines andtemples, offered the trainees a chance to explore therich history of Japan. Also they must have foundanother Japanese culture in the Japanese styledinner party (Enkai) at the Ryokan hotel and thesubsequent late-night Karaoke party.
On the last day the Young Summit Meeting was heldin Tokyo, in which all the participants from bothcountries got together to share the outcome of their 3
weeks of training, and to exchange their views andopinions on some interesting issues such as thedifference of work environment and systems between
two countries. It was a valuable and meaningful
meeting for all participants, and one of the highlightsof the entire YPEP program. We had more than 40
participants for this meeting and its heat was brought
into the farewell party, which was held on the top
floor of a skyscraper in Shinjuku.
While YPEP's primary purpose is to provide young
engineers with opportunities to touch different
cultures, to learn new engineering skills, and to create
an extensive network, we hope that in the future thiswill be growing into close business relationshipbetween the participating firms in two countries, asmentioned in the Memorandum of Understanding
signed by CA and AJCE in 1995.

In October last year, AJCE welcomed 11 young
Australian engineers who would spend 3 weeks at 6
AJCE member firms. It was a good surprise for AJCE
that we had so many trainees this time (eleven is arecord), after the previous year's cancellation of the
programme forced by the tragic Great East Japan
Earthquake and Tsunami.
The schedule of YPEP2012 was as follows;
February
Selection of hosting firms
April
Selection of visiting Australian engineers
May
Start of Pre-visit dialogue
October 15
Orientation & Welcome Party
October 27-28 Trip to Kyoto & Nara
November 2
Young Summit Meeting & Farewell Party

We have already started preparing for this year's
YPEP, in which AJCE will be sending Japanese young
professionals from its member firms to Australia, andwe believe that it will be another success in YPEP's
great history.

AJCE, when accepting trainees, requires them toread a book introducing Japan in various aspects
and make a report on it, and to learn some basic
Japanese so they could introduce themselves inJapanese on the first day of visit. This time we had asecond good surprise when many trainees spoke fairly
good Japanese in the introductory session of theorientation meeting.
After the initial ceremonial events, the trainees started
their training courses at host firms. The program wasplanned individually by each host firm, yet this time
most firms incorporated in the program a trip to thestricken area in Tohoku region. It seems that seeing
with their own eyes the devastated towns and the
local people's effort for reconstruction has left strong

16NEWS LETTER 2013

AJCE Activity 2012

YPEP 2012 - Engineering in the Land of the Rising Sun
Jazper Blizzard
YPEP2012 Trainee
URS Australia Pty. Ltd.
Introduction
I was fortunate to be provided the opportunity towork in the Oriental Consultants Tokyo office forthree weeks in October 2012 as part of theYoung Professionals Exchange Program (YPEP).

Personal Reflections
Witnessing the destruction in the Tohoku region
from the Great East Japan Earthquake andTsunami was a somber experience that willremain with me for a long time. Although the sea
walls and early warning system were not as
effective as intended, it is sobering to think how
much worse the damage would have been if it
wasn't for the high level of earthquake design
requirements of the Japanese design standards.
Also, it was heartwarming to see the resilience ofthe local people, and the entire nation, as they
continue the rebuilding process.
Other memorable moments of the trip haveincluded: visiting the central circular Shinagawa
route tunnel construction site at Ohashi Junction
and the sightseeing trip to Kyoto and Nara.

Brief Outline of YPEP
YPEP is an annual 3 week exchange program
between Japanese and Australian consulting
engineers and engineering firms. The exchange
provides a technical, social and cultural
introduction to the host company/country whilst
fostering increased cooperation and businessbetween Japanese and Australian consulting
engineering firms.
Brief Outline of my Training Program
During the program I was fortunate to have a
combination of technical work and site visits.
Technical work included creating and analysinga Finite Element Analysis model of ShinYokohama exit and entrance tunnel in WCMOD.
The purpose of this was to perform a dynamic
analysis of the structure under earthquake
loading conditions. This was then compared to astatic analysis of the structure that had been
performed earlier.
Site visits included: A site walk of the Central
Circular Shinagawa Route tunnel construction
site at Ohashi Junction; Visiting the Yokohama
circular northern route - Tajiri Construction site,
Visiting Mito City to observe repairs to the Mito
City Train Station elevated walkway and visiting
the T?hoku region to observe the recovery effort
from the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Conclusion and Acknowledgement
Participating in YPEP 2012 has been a fantastic
experience. Observing the Japanese approachto engineering has provided me with manytechniques that I will take back to Australia andimplement in my daily working life.
I would like to thank Oriental Consultants, theAJCE, Consult Australia and URS for theopportunity to participate in YPEP 2012. It has
been an absolute privilege and I am extremely
grateful to Oriental Consultants for all the
hospitality and kindness that they have afforded
me during this exchange. I would particularly liketo thank Mr Suzuki-san, Ms Wang-san, Mr
Fukuma-san and Mr Hayashi-san for their day to
day assistance and for putting up with myatrocious Japanese language ability! I hope that
one day I can repay your extremely generous
hospitality. Dōmo arigatō gozaimashita.

17NEWS LETTER 2013

AJCE Activity 2012

A Journey of Business and Pleasure(Andrew) Lap-Ley Ngo
YPEP2012 Trainee
Brown Consulting Pty. Ltd.
In 2012/10/13 I embarked on a journey to the''Land of the Rising Sun'' departing from Australia.
Onboard this flight was a group of Japanese highschool students returning to their homeland froma visit to Australia. All were in high spirits and after
3 weeks of staying in Japan under the guidanceof Soichiro HAYASHI, from my host firm, I returnhome with exactly the same feeling. I am very
grateful and wish to formally express my gratitude
to the AJCE, participating host firms, and my firm
Brown Consulting for directly and indirectly
supporting my endeavours in this program.
Business
During my stay, I have had the privilege of being
exposed to a real life project driving positivechange in the built environment. Specifically,
Oriental Consultants are undertaking a pilot
project launched by the Ministry of Environment(MOE) involving the development of an ionlithium battery (SCiB) for Electrical Vehicles (EVs).
This technology is planned to be implemented on
buses in the public transport network. The excitingprospect is that this project stands to revolutionize
transportation in Japan and is also adaptable forinternationally application. This of course is true toform given that it has been a long standing viewthat Japan are one of the world leaders in thefield of technology.
Hayashi San kindly took time out of his busy
schedule to guide me through the planning,development and funding process. It was
insightful to see this from the perspective of a
successful Japanese firm.
We also discussed current strategies forrenewable energy in Japan and solar power
generation. I had the opportunity to visit a solar
energy field facility in Kawasaki City which was asight to behold and was given the opportunity toobserve a Council committee meeting discussing
renewable energy in Saitama City.
In a more solemn note, I am deeply touched by
my visit to the regions devastated by the Great
East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. Words
cannot describe how I feel so needless to say that
there are no words to describe how the people ofthese areas and Japan feel. The manner in which
Japan are united in their resolve is a great tributeto the strength of the Japanese people and thenation. I wish Japan all the best in the recovery
efforts.
Pleasure
Tokyo is as fantastic as I remember from myoriginal visit in 2004. I have become older, wiser
and less wild since then and it has been great tosee the progression that Japan has undertakenover this short period. There is no question that thepeople are kind and helpful, but the transportsystem during my first visit was not as friendly tome. With English now being prominent on the
rapid transit system, this has come a long way to
alleviating the challenges I had previously faced.
It was also great to experience Japanese culture
from a businessman's perspective. A lot of jovial
conversations over my favourite Japanese cuisine
accompanied with countless bottles of sake, beer
and umeshu were rather enjoyable when
discussing work life and worldly matters. My hosts
from the AJCE were particularly helpful ineducating me in the ways of discerning sakequality.
Hayashi San was kind enough to organize a
motorbike ride to Mt Fuji where I was able to see
the beauty of this natural treasure.
Once again I would like to extend my deepest
gratitude to all the people who have helped mealong this brief but enriching journey and I highly
recommend that young professionals take on thisopportunity in the future. I would especially like tothank Soichiro HAYASHI and the Oriental
Consultants team for investing their time in me
and this program. I look forward to reuniting withthem in the near
future for businessandpleasure.
Domo Arigato
Gozaimasu.

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AJCE Activity 2012

My YPEP 2012 Experience
Claire Miller
YPEP2012 Trainee
AECOM
Introduction

Compared to the departure time of 5pm of mostDuring my participation of the YPEP program

staff in Australia. I have learnt a lot of interestingorganised by the AJCE, I was fortunate to spend

information about bridge design over my three

my time with members of the substructure bridge

weeks with Chodai and am keen to share it withdesign group at Chodai. I was excited to spend

my colleagues when I return to Australia.

my time with Chodai as they specialise in longspan bridge design, which I have not had much

Cultural Experience

exposure to whilst working in Australia. During my

During my time off from work, I tried totime with Chodai I went on a site visit to Sendai,

experience as many cultural experiences andprepared and discussed differences between

sights as possible. One of the most enjoyable

Australian and Japanese bridge design

experiences was staying at a traditional ryokan,methodologies with the substructure team,which I was able to do in both Miyajima and on

partook in a homestay and was trained in how

our YPEP trip to Kyoto and Nara. In particularly I

to evacuate the office building by exiting out

enjoyed trying the variety of Japanese cuisine at

the window. The photos included in this report

the Enkai experience, as well as the experienceshow some of the fun I have had whist in Japan.

of the Japanese public baths and onsen.

Work Experience

Summary

Each work day in Japan I travelled on theI have had an incredibly enjoyable experience

Tsukuba express from Ueno to Tsukuba. I soonin Japan as a part of the YPEP program, filledlearnt the art, perfected by the Japanese, ofwith much laughter and learning. The kind

sleeping on the train and waking up just in timehearted nature of the Japanese people hasfor my stop. The main difference between

made it a country I would like to come back toJapanese and Australian offices that I noticed

and visit many times - especially when it isimmediately was the noise level and the hours

snowing! I would like to thank the AJCE andworked. My office in Australia is always busy andConsult Australia for organising such a rewarding

quite chaotic with the bustle of people goingprogram. Special Thanks to the staff at Chodai in

about their daily jobs, whilst in Japan the office

Tsukuba and in particularly my mentor Osamu

has a serene silence to it. I also noted that myMatsumoto san who was very patient when I wascolleagues tended to work very late

practicing my Japanese.

19NEWS LETTER 2013

AJCE Activity 2012

YPEP 2012 Summary- Chodai Co Ltd
Garrett BrayYPEP2012 Trainee
BG&E Pty. Ltd.
As a structural bridge engineer, I was fortunate toof final year

be partnered with Chodai Co Ltd, a top calibre

undergraduate

design firm with a strong 40+ year history ofstudents, PhD

impressive bridge structures including some of thestudents andlongest suspension and cable stayed bridges in theuniversity

world.

lecturers. I was
treated to a

I was based in the Sendai Office where I was met

tour

of

the

with fantastic hospitality, engaged in manylaboratory facilities and ongoing tsunami modelling

technical exchange activities and enjoyed sharing

experiments and their results.

plenty of social and cultural occasions with the
In the office, we discussed differences

friendly team there.

between Australia and Japan in bridge design
Due to its location in Northern Honshu, the effects ofprocesses, contract arrangements and structural

the 2011 Great Eastern Japan Earthquake anddetailing.

Tsunami have dominated the project work of the
Sendai branch over the last 18 months. As part of

I was also treated to a range of social and cultural

the program I had a full day site visit to some of theexperiences including sampling different Japanesemost affected areas between Sendai anddelicacies over many meals with co-workers, an

Kesennuma City where I inspected several severely

office family BBQ by the river, a homestay at thedamaged bridge structures as well as site locations

Sendai director's house, games of futsal, sightseeing

and plans for improved replacement structures.

around Sendai and Matsushima Bay as well ofcourse the Cultural weekend visiting Kyoto andNara.

In another site visit to the severely damaged
Wakabayashi Ward in the East part of Sendai, I
observed the current construction of new 7m high

YPEP 2012 has been a amazing cultural, businesstsunami walls proposed for approximately 32km ofand technical experience and I thank the kindcoastline with a core composed of tsunami debris.

people of Chodai Sendai branch and of the AJCEMy exchange also included a visit to Hachinohe

for this opportunity.

Institute of Technology where I presented to a class20NEWS LETTER 2013

AJCE Activity 2012

Summary of YPEP 2012: Pacific Consultants
Ashleigh Chambers
YPEP2012 Trainee
Beca Pty. Ltd.
Introduction
During my YPEP in Japan I was fortunate enough towork with Pacific Consultants (PCKK) based in their
Shinjuku office. During my time with PCKK I was able tolearn about technical engineering applications andexperience Japanese culture.
Work Experience
After a very warm welcome to Japan with welcome
parties with the AJCE and PCKK, I was given theopportunity to attend many site visits which allowed me
to witness some of the impressive and uniqueengineering works in Japan relating to water andenvironment, river management, hydraulics anddisaster planning and management.
I visited Lake Inbanuma, which has the poorest water
quality in Japan, where I was able to see aquatic plant
restoration, a working windmill, the Kaga-Shimizu Spring
and a stormwater turbidity treatment area.
I travelled to the Chiba Prefecture to see Gaikaku
Housuiro, which is used for flood mitigation and is thelargest underground water discharge tunnel in theworld. Here I was able to explore the 70m highunderground reservoir.
I participated in a Machi Aruki (town walk) in Kiryu City
with local community representatives to identify thebest evacuation route from the town.
I visited the beautiful town of Hakone, and witnessed
many examples of Sabo, techniques used to mitigate
damage cause by sediment related disasters, including
large Sabo dams, driftwood and debris screens, training
dikes and river bank reinforcement.
I attended presentations on hydrodynamic techniques
used in Japan and Thailand
and witnessed how thesetechniques were implemented
to minimize riverbed erosion at
the Asagawa and Tamagawa
rivers.
I visited the new science town of Tsukuba, where I saw
the many hydraulic models used for river flow analysis at
the PCKK laboratory, a 200m long 1:60 scale model of
the Tenryugawa river and a tsunami model at the

Department of Land Conservation and saw the VLBI
Antenna which is used to precisely measure movementin the tectonic plates at the Museum of Mapping and
Surveying.
Cultural Experience
I was very fortunate to experience and learn so muchabout Japanese culture during my training. I visitedmany shrines and temples in the Tokyo area including
Naritasan, Meiji-jingo andSenso-ji and visited Asakusa,
Ueno, the Imperial Gardens
and Odaiba where I saw
Tokyo from the top of thePallet Town ferris wheel.
I was also fortunate enough to travel to Kyoto where I
was able to see the amazing Kinkakuji, Nijo-jo,
Sanjusangendo and the Kiomizu temple to name a few.
I also visited Nara where I fed the cute deer and saw
the very large statue of Buddha at Todaji Temple.

I have also gone to a baseball game, playedpachinko, eaten at many izakaya and tried somany delicious Japanese foods and sake, been toa traditional onsen, seen a traditional Japanese
dance, sung at karaoke and went to a traditional
Japanese barbeque on the banks of theTamagawa with my PCKK workmates and theirfamilies.
SummaryThis has been an amazing experience being immersedin the wonderful culture of Japan with such generous
people and would like to thank AJCE and Consult
Australia for organising YPEP 2012. I would like to say a
special thank you the awesome, hard-working and kindfriends I have made at PCKK who have taught me somuch, especially my patient mentor Hiromi Kurosaki. It
has been a 'sugoi'
experience that I
am very grateful forand look forward tovisiting Japan again
soon.

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My Japanese Experience with PCKK
Robert Hickey
YPEP2012 Trainee
AURECON
Tsukuba city where we visited both the PCKK and
National Institute of Land Management hydrauliclaboratories. At the hydraulic laboratories it wasamazing to see the scale of the river, tsunami andother hydraulic models that are developed forphysically testing ideas.

For the YPEP 2012 program I was given theamazing opportunity to work with Pacific
Consultants (PCKK) in their Water Environment
section. Pacific Consultants is a multi-disciplinary
company very similar in size to my own company,
Aurecon. To introduce me to the different topics
that are important to water engineering at PCKK
(and Japan in general) my mentors Yuasa-sanand Kirihara-san set me several assignments aspart of my pre-training dialogue. These
assignments required me to research andcompare the history, legislation and current stateof water pollution in Australia and Japan and thisprocess was invaluable to my preparation for the
training.

PCKK members in the River Planning group alsopresented us with elements of their research into
varied topics including improved methods ofcalculating cross-sectional velocity and numericalmodelling of large stones in river flows.
In addition to the technical aspects of the training
my hosts also introduced me to a myriad ofJapanese food and culture. Soba, okonomiyaki,
takoyaki, yakisoba, nihonshu, schochu, izakayas
and karaoke were all enjoyed immensely. While I
think my Japanese language skill is still very poor,
my understanding of the word 'Nomikai' is now
excellent.

For the training program, PCKK had organised acomprehensive set of field trips to demonstrate
both projects that PCKK are involved in andprojects that are significant to the industry. Eachtrip was organised by a different working groupwithin the section and it showcased the breadthof expertise residing at PCKK. Our first trip was tothe Lake Inbanuma area to look at the lake and its
watershed.
There the team had implemented some novel
measures to improve the water quality in the lake.
The measures included reducing first-flush
sediment in a stormwater reservoir and restoringnear-extinct plant life to a section of the lakeshore. This 'whole of watershed' approach to the
problem was very impressive.

Throughout the whole experience I found all of the
PCKK members (and Japanese people in general)
to be extremely generous, hard-working, fun andin many cases hilarious. The hard-working nature of
the consultants at PCKK is easily seen in the longhours spent at the office, much longer than many
Australian consultants.
Overall I have an amazing time on this exchange
and have made many friends, both Australianand Japanese that I hope to stay in touch with. I
would like to thank the AJCE and Consult Australia
for creating this invaluable opportunity and evenmore I would like to thank PCKK and its members
for their generosity and hospitality.

We also travelled to the Tokyo Metropolitan Area
Discharge Channel where we took a tour of thepump facility and main surge tank. The immense
size of the system is both an engineering marvel
and a very visible indication of the size of theflooding problems that affect Japan.
Other field trips included Kiryu-city where weobserved the engagement with the local
community in disaster planning; the Hakone area
to see examples of Sabo Dam usage (and gain
some extra life courtesy of kuro tamago!); and22

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AJCE Activity 2012

YPEP Program 2012 Report
Sean Keown
YPEP2012 Trainee
Arup
Introduction
For the 2012 YPEP program, I was lucky enough to behosted by CTI Engineering in Tokyo.

stormwater-wastewater separation techniques. I was
also intrigued to learn about the advanced tunnel
rehabilitation technologies used in Tokyo.
CTI took me to visit theirvery impressive Tsukuba
Hydraulics Laboratory
facility. At this facility CTI
has the capacity tocarry out large scale
experiments to findsolutions to problems
such as sedimentation build up, pollutant distribution
and flooding issues. I think this is a fantastic way ofensuring the effectiveness of engineering solutions
and a valuable tool for finding solutions to uniqueproblems.
One aspect of CTI's business I found particularlyinteresting was their disaster management strategy
expertise. This is an area that is new to me so it wasinteresting to learn about disaster evacuation plans
and the logistics involved with rehabilitation. I also
got the chance to visit Odaiba where I learnt about
the interesting work CTI is currently undertaking there
following the issues experienced in the lasttsunami/earthquake.
found the weekend trip to Kyoto and Nara a
fantastic experience. I learnt a lot about Japanese
history and culture and had a lot of fun. Staying at
the traditional Japanese hotel was a great
experience and the food, sake and karaoke were allspectacular!
Thank youThank you to CTI and AJCE for this fantastic andrewarding opportunity. The staff at CTI wereincredibly welcoming andhosted a brilliant program.
The kindness, hard workand expertise of the CTI
staff made this program atruly valuable experience.

Pre-training program
The pre-training dialogue helped me prepare for the
program and assisted in initiating relationships with
CTI staff. CTI instructed me to prepare a report andpresentation on water resource management andwater related disasters in Australia and Japan. This
was a great way to initiate discussions between
myself and CTI about the differences between thetwo countries water industries and water related
issues.
Program
CTI prepared a fantastic schedule for my 3 week
program that was incredibly informative andrewarding. I received a great introduction to theoperations of the CTI office and the structure ofwater resource management in Japan.
CTI led me on a two day tour of the disaster affected
region around Sendai that was a shocking but
rewarding experience. From an engineering
perspective, the large scale levees that are being
built and the rehabilitation work taking place wererewarding to see. Learning about the disastermanagement strategies and the work being
undertaken to return life to normal in the area wasalso a valuable experience. On a personal level, it
was amazing to see the resilience of the locals insuch tough conditions and I had a brilliant time withthe welcoming people of Tohoku.
CTI took me to see the Koraku DHC sewer pumpstation that uses the thermal energy of sewerage topower heating and air conditioning for buildings inthe Koraku-1 area in central Tokyo. This innovativetechnology has allowed a significant reduction in
the energy usage and carbon emissions for the area.
I also visited the 'Kuramae Mizu no Yakata' where I
found it particularly interesting to learn about
combined sewer and stormwater systems and the23NEWS LETTER 2013

AJCE Activity 2012

My Experience in Japan with CTI Engineering
Samantha Passmore
YPEP2012 Trainee
AECOM
Introduction
The River and Water Resources Division of CTI
Engineering, based in Saitama City, has been agreat host during my three week program here in
Japan. During my time with them I received anumber of introductions to each group within thedepartment, and was able to compare Australianand Japanese water issues and solutions. I also wasvery lucky to attend numerous site visits.

Hijikata San making me feelat homeExperience out of the OfficeThroughout my training, CTI was very generous with
their time and took me on many interesting site visits.
I was able to see the tsunami affected areas
around Sendai and along the southern coasts of the
Iwate and Miyagi prefectures. I am still unable tocomprehend the speed and size of the tsunami,
despite seeing the damage, images and videos. I
also went on a boat tour to see the bridges of Tokyo
city, the CTI Experiment Institute in Tsukuba, theMetropolitan Outer Area Discharge Channel, thelevees, superlevees and Watergates along the Ara
River, and to the Edo Museum (I feel I was very lucky
to have this one included).
The YPEP trainees and their mentors visited Kyoto
where we experienced an Enkai Party. The numberof parties we have had, and the number of sunrises I
have seen, showed me the Japanese definitely
know how to party!

Tohoku Branch party with
Tago San and Kato San

Experience in the Office
On my first day we held presentations comparing
work life in Australia and Japan. I could not believea 1am finish is not unusual here! I then received
introductions to different groups in the Saitama
office, including Flood Mitigation, SedimentManagement, Water Quality Management, River
Administration, Coastal Engineering, Water
Resources, Water Infrastructure, and Adaptation
Strategy for Climate Change. In the Tokyo Main
Office I was introduced to the Asset Management
and Disaster Mitigation groups.

CTI Members showing us
reconstruction works in Sendai

CTI Members at the Edo-Tokyo
Special Study Cruise

Summary and Acknowledgements
I feel so grateful to have had this exchange
experience, and I can't wait to share everything I
have learned with my colleagues in Australia. I
thank all the staff at CTI, and all the strangers on thestreet who helped me when I was lost, for speaking
English with me, or for being patient with myJapanese. I particularly want to thank Mr. Naoki
Fujiwara for having me in his team and for giving me
his employee's time, Ms. Chie Kato for being anamazing and patient mentor and Mr. Kengo
Shibata, for being a good Japanese teacher andfor his entertaining karaoke skills.

I enjoyed comparing common methods of dealing
with issues in each country. For example large
levees are not as popular in Australia, and River Law
exists across a number of documents, not just one. I
was also surprised to hear that there are water
shortages in Japan as well, despite few droughts,
due to the large population.
Within the office I quickly learnt about the culture ofbringing a gift to share with colleagues upon returnof a trip away. This is a great tradition as I got to try
many delicious sweets from various regions inJapan.

24

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AJCE Activity 2012

My Japanese Adventure
Greg Holland
YPEP2012 Trainee
MWH
Introduction
I was forwarded information on YPEP 2012 by acolleague and following a discussion with mymanager, I jumped at the chance to apply. I was
delighted to be accepted on to the exchange, as
I thought it would be a great way to experience
Japan. I was given my first choice placement at
Nihon Suido Consultants (NSC), in the domestic
wastewater section.

After Kesennuma City I travelled to Kooriyama City
to visit Kenchu Sewage Treatment Plant where, asa result of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster,
radioactive sludge is being currently produced onsite.
The sludge incineration facility at the treatment
works is currently running at capacity and carefulmanagement of the waste is critical to ensuring
minimal impact on the surrounding environment.

Knowledge Sharing
One of the main aspects of the exchange was theopportunity to share knowledge and experienceswith the engineers at NSC. Several workshops wereorganised with young engineers, the overseas
business department and general discussions
about odour control techniques and wastewater
treatment.
I was lucky to be able to go on several site visits
during my stay. These included state of the art
underground Ariake Water Reclamation Facility inTokyo and Chiba Nogiku no sato Water Treatment
Facility in Chiba Prefecture.
I was taken on a three day trip to the Tohoku
region to see the devastating effects of the 2011
earthquake and tsunami. In Kesennuma City wevisited the completely destroyed Kesennuma
Wastewater Treatment Plant and the temporary
treatment plants that have been installed in thearea. I could not believe the impact that thetsunami had on the area.

Cultural Experiences
As part of my preparation for the exchange, I
started to learn the Japanese language and findout about the culture. This served me well inJapan, although my Mancunian Japanese
accent definitely needs some more work.
During my time in the Japan I have experienced
the unique contrasts that Japan has to offer, fromthe beautiful autumn colours and breathtaking
temples of Kyoto and Nara to the bright lights andbusy streets of Tokyo.
The Japanese food has been eye opening andmostly delicious but I quickly learnt that theattitude of 'eat first, ask questions later' is required.
My new found love for sake would probably add
another page to my report, so I have left this out.
Conclusion
My time in Japan has been extremely rewarding
and I have been left with great memories. I havemade many friends and business contacts bothfrom Japanese companies and the other YPEP
participants. I hope that the relationships madeduring these three weeks can be maintained andthat they will lead to more mutually beneficial
opportunities in the future. I have decided tocontinue to study and plan to return one spring to
see the cherry blossom.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank both
the AJCE and Consult Australia for organising theexchange. I would like to personally thank the staff
at NSC for hosting me for the three weeks, with a
special mention to the NSC mentors Kazuhiro KISHI
and Riota ADATI.

Stranded ship in Kesennuma City

25

NEWS LETTER 2013

AJCE Activity 2012

An Australian in Japan
Eleanor Chan
PEP2012 Trainee
Aurecon Australia Pty Ltd
Introduction
I am a process engineer in the water andwastewater industry and was fortunate to beplaced in the Water Supply team at Nihon Suido
Consultants Co. Ltd.
During my three week placement, I partook inknowledge and cultural exchange discussions,site visits to water, reclamation and sewage
treatment plants, a cultural trip to Kyoto andNara.
Knowledge and cultural exchange discussions
We had open discussions and talked freely tofind out about Japan and Australia's cultures.
Learnings that I took away were that in Japan, a
10 hour working day is normal, design
considerations for disasters are concerned withearthquakes, female representation inengineering is still low and that Japan places
high importance on Overseas Development
Assistance.
Site visits
Site visits included trips to the Ariake Water
Reclamation Centre, Chiba Nogiku no Sato
Water Treatment Plant, Kesennuma City and
Kenchu Sewage Treatment Plant. Recycling is
the norm rather than an innovation. In thewastewater treatment plants that I visited, therewas 100% recycling and zero waste. Treatedwastewater is recycled for toilet flushing and forindustrial reuse.
Design improvements to mitigate against disaster
Having seen the devastation caused by theearthquake and tsunami when I visited
Kesennuma City, it is heartening to see thatJapan doesn't intend to be as vulnerable in the
future. Key design innovations being
implemented are key infrastructure and roads
being built above the flood water levels, the useof super levees to prevent flooding, emergency
public taps installed at the water treatment
plants.

The water industry's response to radioactive sludge
At the Kenchu Sewage Treatment Plant, thesludge will continue to be captured and stored
on site for at least the next 30 years until thelevels of radioactivity have decayed toacceptable levels. Seeing the bags of sludge
impressed upon me that the impacts of the
Fukushima disaster will be long lasting and thereis never an easy answer.
Kyoto and Nara cultural trip

My favourite part was visiting Nara and Kyoto. I
enjoyed learning how the capital of isdetermined by where the Emperor lives, seeing
Kyoto's famous pottery and learning about thechildren's festival.
Recommendations
I believe that Japan as a whole needs to work
towards better work-life balance and increase
diversity in the workplace and more actively
support the increase female representation inengineering.
Acknowledgement
Thank you to NSC and the AJCE for thiswonderful opportunity to experience Japan. I
have made lots of new friends and I hope towork in Japan in the future. I would also like topersonally thank my mentors Riota Adati and
Kazuhiro Kishi.

26NEWS LETTER 2013

AJCE Activity 2012

YPEP 2012
Zisis Plakas
YPEP2012 Trainee
URS(Golden Pavilion), Big Buddha and the deer parkat Kasuga-taisha.

Being a railway engineer, my placement waswith Nippon Koei in the international railways
division. In my first few days I was welcomed tothe office in Yotsuya and I was briefed on thecompany's line of work and active projects. It
was a pleasant surprised finding out that wehave worked on common international projects
in the past. In the next few days I was introduced
to the history of Japanese railways and thetechnology used today. I was also taken on 3
site visits. One in Sendai to visit the tsunami
effected areas, one at Nippon Koei's Research &Development center and one at Toyama to visit
the Hokuriku Shinkansen development.
Sendai was an eye opener to say the least. It
was quite devastating to see the damage thatwas done in the coastal areas. We visited anumber of locations to see damaged structuresand buildings as well as the sorting sites ofmaterial collected from the effected areas.
Finally we visited the tsunami defence dykes
which are being reconstructed and upgradedalong the coast line.

The YPEP has been a very valuable experience
both on a personal and a professional level. It
has given me a unique flavour of Japan, its
people and the Japanese culture. I have madesome excellent professional contacts and mostimportantly new friends. I would like to thank the
AJCE, Mr Hidekazu Konishi, Mr Tetsuto Nakano
and the Shimizu family for taking time off workand their families to make me feel welcome andI hope to return the favour in the near future.

In my first weekend I was very kindly welcomedat the Shimizu's residence for homestay. There I
sampled the Japanese family lifestyle and I was
given my 30th birthday cake!

This is my fourth time in Japan. The thing I cameto love most about Japan is its versatility and its
people. There is such a range in personalities,
lifestyles, weather, scenery, styles.... Beach in thesummer vs skiing in the winter, Tokyo city lights vsthe beautiful countryside, tradition vsmodernisation. Somehow Japan makes it fit
together.

In the second week of my stay I visited the
Nippon Koei R&D center in Tsukuba. There I was
briefed on the line of work undertaken by thecentre and was taken on a tour of the site.
My third site visit was in Toyama for theconstruction of the Hokuriku Shinkansen and thedevelopments at Toyama station.
The 2 day visit to Kyoto and Nara wasremarkable. My personal highlights of the trip
were the visit to the Sanjusangen-do, Kinkaku-ji

27NEWS LETTER 2013

AJCE Activity 2012

JICA's Initiative on Dissemination of Dispute Board
Adjudicator Committee , AJCE
1. Background
The Japan International Cooperation Agency(JICA) has carried out various dissemination
activities of the Dispute Board (DB) for projects
financed by JICA ODA loan. Since 2008, AJCE
has been involved in this program as a memberof the JICA Study Team, together with Kyoto
University and Nippon Koei Co., Ltd.. The DB is a
new dispute resolution mechanism introduced in
FIDIC construction contracts in 1999. At present,
all of JICA's standard bidding documents (SBD)
for construction employ the DB system, as shown
below.

answers (Q&As) are as follows:
Q1: When the country's legal system does notdeal with DB, I think the DB's decision does nothave a binding effect. What is your comment on
this?
A1: The dispute resolution procedure with DB isagreed by contract parties based on theprinciple of ''freedom to contract''. We do notthink the DB process has any conflict with thenational legal system. If a law related toalternative dispute resolution (ADR) is available, it
may support DB mechanism; however, it is not aprerequisite for effectiveness of the DB's decision.
Furthermore, the successive process, including
amicable settlement and arbitration, is stipulated
in the FIDIC contract, when either party is
dissatisfied with the DB's decision.
Q2: When either party is dissatisfied with the DB's
decision, it can proceed with the arbitration. In
this case, can the DB cost be regarded aswasted expense?
A2: According to statistics in the United States,
only 2% of disputes referred to DB went toarbitration. This means that most of disputes weresettled at the project site level and this fact
should be well-recognized. Furthermore, astanding DB is able to mitigate the outbreak ofthe dispute by its dispute prevention function.
The dispute may result in the delay ofcompletion of the project entailing hugesocioeconomic loss to a nation. The benefits
brought by DB can be sufficiently justified bysuch reasons.
Q3: Can the cost of DB be covered by JICA ODA
loans?

JICA SBD and Dispute Board

JICA SBD

Conditions of Contract

Dispute Resolution by:

Works

FIDIC MDB harmonizededitionStanding DB

Plant

ENAA form

Standing DB

Small Works

MDB original

Adjudicator

However, it is observed that application of the
DB in actual projects shows very slow progress,
and the following bottlenecks have beenrecognized for its full-scale application:1) Demand-side (or user-side) issue: The real
benefit of DB has not been realized by theparties of construction contract. Hence, theestablishment of the DB has not yet been
positively supported.
2) Supply-side issue: The availability of the DB
member (or the adjudicator) is insufficient
specially in the Asian region in considerationof growing demands.
This paper describes JICA's initiative in thedissemination of DB in the past five years.
2. Countermeasures for Demand-side Issues
1) Dispute Board Promotion Seminar
JICA delivered DB seminars in Indonesia,
Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Cambodia,
Bangladesh, India, and Japan inviting public
officers, contractors, and consultants to raise theawareness on the DB. There were 14 seminars
held with more than 1,100 participants in total. In
the seminars, a lot of questions were asked by
the participants and typical questions andDB Promotion Seminar in Vietnam28NEWS LETTER 2013
established and maintain their national lists. The
outcome of this survey was then utilized for thesetting up of the Japanese National List by AJCE.
3) Adjudicator Training and Assessment Workshop
In order to verify the usefulness of the DB
Adjudicator Training Kit, the Adjudicator Training
Workshop (ATW) and Adjudicator Assessment
Workshop (AAW) were held in Tokyo in 2010,
inviting the candidates for adjudicators. The
result of the assessment was delivered to JICA bya three-member assessment panel. This result
was further conveyed to AJCE, which
established its National List in May 2011 based on
it. The AJCE list is the first list of adjudicators inAsia consisting of seven adjudicators at present.

A3: JICA considers that the DB cost is not a legal
cost but a part of project management cost,
therefore it is an eligible cost under JICA ODA
loans. JICA will discuss the establishment of DB
with the executing agency of the JICA ODA
project during the project appraisal stage sothat the cost allocation for DB will be ensured
under the loan for upcoming projects.
2) Dispute Board Manual
JICA issued the user's manual of the DB in 2012.
This concise manual has only 60 pages, butcovers all the important aspects of a DB. It canbe downloaded at the JICA website. The outlineof the DB manual is as follows:

Mock Hearing at AAW

Interview at AAW

Outline of DB Manual

3) Mock Dispute Board Seminar
A seminar titled ''Mock Dispute Board Seminar''
was held in Jakarta in May 2012, which aimed todeepen the understanding on Dispute Board by
stakeholders of JICA ODA project bydemonstrating mock hearings between DB and
employer/contractor/engineer based on typicalconstruction dispute scenarios. About 100
participants attended the seminar.
3. Countermeasures for Supply-side Issue
1) DB Adjudicator Training Kit
JICA developed a training kit for candidates for
adjudicator in 2010.
The 300-pagecomprehensive training material was designed
to be used in the five-day adjudicator training
workshop corresponding to FIDIC's Module 3/3A.
Mr. Gordon Jaynes joined the JICA Study Teamfor the preparation of this kit.
2) Survey on Adjudicator National List
FIDIC has a list of approved adjudicators called
the FIDIC President's List of Approved Dispute
Adjudicators. At present, 61 adjudicators areregistered in the list. To cope with increasing
demand for adjudicators, FIDIC encourages its
Member Associations (MAs) to establish theirown National List of adjudicators. The JICA Study
Team visited several MAs who already have lists,
namely the VBI of Germany, SIDir of Poland, and
ARIC of Romania, in order to learn how they

AJCE Adjudicator List (at Website)

4. Conclusion
As a result of the continued efforts by JICA, theawareness on DB has been gradually raised in
the JICA's ODA recipient countries and their
executing agencies. Its progressive approach isappreciated by FIDIC as well as the MultilateralDevelopment Banks. The ATW and AAW done in2010 in Tokyo were repeated in Manila inNovember 2012, which invited candidates for
adjudicator from Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Vietnam,
and the Philippines. It is expected that new
national lists of adjudicators will be established in
the Asian region in the very near future.

29

NEWS LETTER 2013

Project Accomplishments by AJCE Members

Sanitation Improvement Project for Baixada Santista
Metropolitan Region
Principal
Firm (s)Chuo Kaihatsu Corporation

Project Site

Baixada Santista Metropolitan Region
comprised of 9 cities along the Sao
Paulo State coastline

ClientBasic Sanitation Company of the Stateof Sao Paulo (SABESP), the Federative
Republic of Brazil

FinanceODA Loan

PeriodAugust 2005 - July 2011

Type of
Project

Construction Management Services

Project Outline
In Brazil, especially in the State of Sao Paulo, the living
environment of the residents was deteriorated year
after year due to untreated sewage discharged
directly into seacoasts and rivers.
This project aimed to improve the living environmentof the residents through the improvement of water
quality in coastal regions (Baixada Santista
Metropolitan Region) in the State of Sao Paulo. The
project comprised the three main objectives: (i) toimprove the sewage facilities; (ii) to improve theenvironment monitoring system essential for the water
quality management; and (iii) to provide funds
required for consulting services. The implementationof this project made possible the treatment of a lot of
wastewater from 120,000 households, leading to theimprovement of sanitation in the regions.
Details
This project includes the following activities:- Development of sewage facilities (9 locations)- Construction of sewage pump stations (78 stations)- Installation of trunk sewer (approx. 100 km)- Installation of sewage pipe network (approx. 992 km)- Installation of automatic measuring instrument forwater quality (approx.30 locations)30NEWS LETTER 2013

Project Accomplishments by AJCE Members

Project for Construction of Sindhuli Road (1st Phase of
Section III) in Nepal
Principal
Firm

Nippon Koei Co., Ltd.

Project Site

Mid Hill Region

ClientDepartment of Roads, Ministry ofPhysical Planning, Works and Transport
Management, Gov. of Nepal

Finance

Japanese Grant Aid

PeriodJuly 2007 ~ June 2012

Type of
Project

Consulting Services for Design andConstruction Supervision

Project Outline
In 1996, the Sindhuli Road construction project wasstarted with the Japanese grant aid. The project roadis one of the most important arterial roads in Nepal,
linking Kathmandu City, the capital city of thecountry, with the Terai Plain in East-south.
The project road, passing along the fragile slope of
Mid Hill Region, has been constructed with a highmountains road construction technology including
various steep slope failure prevention measures tofight against severe natural condition of Nepal.
The project was divided into four sections and three
sections of those (Section I, II and IV) with a total
length of 123 km were already completed. The
project is now coming to an end and the remaining
Section III of 37 km long is currently under construction
for completion for the year 2015.

Beautiful View of Zigzag Road in Section II

View of Himalaya Range from Section IV

Details(1) History of Sindhuli Road Project (160 km)
Section 1
39 km (1996 ~ 1998 completed)
Section II
34 km (2000 ~ 2009 completed)
Section III
37 km (2009 ~ under construction)
Section IV
50 km (1997 ~ 2003 completed)(2) Approx. Amount of Japanese Grant Aid:
¥ 30.1 billion up to now(3) Main Feature of 1st Phase of Section III Work
Construction: December 2009 ~ June 2012
Length : 1st Phase: 14.3 km(2nd Phase: 22.5 km under construction)
Road Width : 4.75 ~ 6.00 m
Design Speed: ~ 40 km/hr
Pavement Type: DBST
7 nos. of causeway structure

Typical Causeway Structure in Section III

Reinforced Earth Wallusing Geo-textile in Section III

31

NEWS LETTER 2013

Project Accomplishments by AJCE Members

Water Resources Existing Facilities Rehabilitation andCapacity Improvement Project in Indonesia
Principal

Nippon Koei Co., Ltd.

Firm (s)Project Site

Jawa (Solo River and Brantas River
Basins) & Sumatra (Ular River Irrigation)

ClientDirectorate General of Water
Resources, Ministry of Public Works,
Gov. of Indonesia

Finance

Japanese ODA Loan

PeriodOct. 2003 〜 Jun. 2012

Type of
Project

Consulting Services for Detailed
Design and Construction Supervision,
and Engineering Services for Capacity
Building for the O&M

Project Outline
The Government of Indonesia has formulated thenational policy to undertake optimized operation andmaintenance (O&M) works for water resources
existing facilities which were damaged anddeteriorated for a long while due to natural disasters
and lack of an adequate technical maintenance.
The objectives of the project are to rehabilitate thefunction and capacity of the existing facilities ofcompleted Japanese ODA loan projects in the water
resource sector and to strengthen the operation andmaintenance capacity of the responsible O&M
organizations.
This project promoted 1) effective water resourcesmanagement for irrigation facilities, 2) reduction ofrisks of sediment flow, degradation of riverbed andinundation, and 3) stable water supply for irrigation.

Rehabilitation of Jatimlerek Rubber Dam

Groundsill and Revetment
on Batan River

Details(List of Sub-projects)(1) Solo River Basin Improvement (Upper Solo River
protection/repair, Madiun River protection
including rubber gate repair)(2) Karangkates Multipurpose Dam(improvement of revetment at spillway plunge)(3) Wlingi Multipurpose Dam (construction of Sabo
dam and bypass channel: 7.2 km)(4) Brantas Middle Reaches River Improvement(river protection/repair, repair of intake weir for
irrigation)(5) Porong River Improvement(river protection/repair)(6) Mt. Kelud Sabo dam repair(7) Ular River Irrigation (18,500 ha)(rehabilitation: construction of intake weir and link
canals (42.9 km))

Slit type Sabo dam (LECD-8)
on Lekso River

Ular Headworks

32NEWS LETTER 2013

Project Accomplishments by AJCE Members

The Project for Water Service Improvement in
Mamminasata Metropolitan Area in South Sulawesi
Principal
Firm (s)Nihon Suido Consultants Co., Ltd.

Project Site

Mamminasata Metropolitan Area,
South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia

ClientJapan International Cooperation
Agency (JICA)

Finance

JICA

PeriodSeptember 2009 - March 2012

Type of
Project

Technical Cooperation

Project Outline
The purpose of this project was to enhance thecapacities of 4 PDAMs (Water Works bureau) staff in
Makassar, Gowa, Maros and Takalar in the
Mamminasata Metropolitan Area, focusing on technicalmanagement (O&M) and financial administration ofwater supply services, through the various activities by
the following experts;
1) Chief advisor/Water Supply System Management /Institutional Capacity Development
2) Water Supply Utilities Management Advisor(Nagoya City Waterworks & Sewerage Bureau)
3) Deputy Chief Advisor / NRW reduction4) Leak detection
5) Finance management
6) Business management / Customer Relations
7) O&M of Water Treatment Facilities (Okayama City
Waterworks Bureau)
8) Water quality management
9) GIS
10) Inter-Organizational Coordination Advisor

Project Map
Project Activity

Details
In order to achieve the project purposes, thefollowing five (5) outputs were required;Output1: Inter-regional cooperation and coordination
mechanism among PDAMs is strengthened.
Output2: PDAMs' financial administration capacity isstrengthened.
Output3: PDAMs' technical capacity for NRW
reduction is strengthened.
Output4: PDAMs' technical capacity for establishmentof GIS database is strengthened.
Output5: PDAM's technical capacity for water quality
management of small scale water
treatment facilities is strengthened.

33

PIU Meeting

Output1

Output2

Output3

Output4

Output5

NEWS LETTER 2013

Project Accomplishments by AJCE Members

Consultancy Service for Experts and Special Technical Assistancefor Eastern Province Water Supply Development Project
Principal

Nihon Suido Consultants Co., Ltd.

Firm (s)Project Site

Eastern Province, Sri Lanka

ClientNational Water Supply and Drainage
Board (NWSDB), Sri Lanka

Finance

Loan of JICA (Japan International
Cooperation Agency)

PeriodJanuary - December 2012

Type of
Project

Consultancy Service for Experts andSpecial Technical Assistance

Project Outline
In March of 2010, JICA signed a loan agreement with
Sri Lanka Government for Eastern Province Water
Supply Development Project (EPWSDP). The project
aims to expand water supply facilities and to ensure
the water supply service rate to be increased fromcurrent 38% to 72% by 2014.
During the implementation of the EPWSDP, the
NWSDB also intends to obtain the experts and special
technical assistance to enhance the capability ofengineers of the NWSDB in respect ofalgae/cyanobacteria control and mechanical/
electrical/electronic (M&E) engineering design.
Algae/cyanobacteria survey

Details1) Algae/cyanobacteria control- Survey on algae/cyanobacteria growth andcyanotoxins in dams for water source, and theircontrol/removal methods- Conducting pilot project for cyanobacteria
control/removal- Training NWSDB staff- Preparing guidelines and updating design manual,
recommendations for improvement of existing
WTPs- Suggestion of cyanotoxins standards for drinking
water quality
2) Mechanical/electrical/electronic engineering- Review & recommendations of designs- Design operational philosophies- Design associated PLC control systems/SCADA- Training the NWSDB staff- Updating the design manuals of M&E

Cyanotoxin analysis and training

Pilot project for algae control by Pilot project for algae removal by
Sonicator
Micro-strainer

Seminar (M&E)

34

Seminar (algae control)NEWS LETTER 2013

Project Accomplishments by AJCE Members

THE PROJECT FOR SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT FOR PROMOTING
RETURN AND RESETTLEMENT OF INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS (IDPs)
Principal
Firm(s)Oriental Consultants Co., Ltd

Project site

Acholi Sub-region, Northern Uganda

ClientJapan International Cooperation
System (JICS)

Finance

Japanese Grant Aid

PeriodAug 2010 - Mar 2013

Type of
Project◆ Detailed Design◆ Tender Assistance◆ Construction Supervision◆ Soft Component (on-the-job training)

Project Outline
Northern Uganda is characterized with a high level ofpoverty which can be attributed to the Lord's
Resistance Army (LRA) insurgency. During the 20-year
conflict beginning in the 1980s, much of the basicsocial infrastructure was destroyed or abandoned
and the local government became non-functional in
the region. Since the defeat of the LRA and theirsubsequent relocation away from the country in 2006,
the Government of Uganda has emphasized andfacilitated the return process of IDPs and prepared
the National Peace Recovery and Development Plan
(PRDP) in order to stabilize and recover Northern
Uganda. The PRDP emphasizes the importance ofinfrastructure rehabilitation and improvement of trunk
road network connecting the districts and community
access road network.
This Project objective is to promote return andresettlement of former Internally Displaced Persons(IDPs) back to their original villages through provisionof access roads and bridges to the villages.

Section 3, Ayago Bridge L=15m

Section 4, Otaka Bridge L=45m

Section 2, Aringa Bridge L=15m

Section 1, Box culvert

Section 2, Aringa bridge (during construction)

Section 1, Atiabar Bridge

Section 6, Cement stabilization work

Section 6, Stabilization, stabilizer

Section 6, DBST work, chips sprayer

Section 6, DBST work

Survey work on-the-Job training
for District staffs (Soft Component)

Precast girder work on-the-Job training
for District staffs (Soft Component)

Details:
The project includes 6 sections in Northern Uganda:

35

NEWS LETTER 2013

Project Accomplishments by AJCE Members

THE PROJECT FOR INTRODUCTION OF CLEAN ENERGY BYSOLAR ELECTRICITY GENERATION SYSTEM
Principal
Firm(s)Oriental Consultants Co., Ltd.

Project Site

La Trinidad, Diriamba, Republic ofNicaragua

ClientJapan International Cooperation
SystemFinanceGrant Aid by Japanese ODA

PeriodAugust 2011 - January 2013

Type of
Project◆ Detailed Design◆ Tender Assistance◆ Construction Supervision
Perspective View

Project Outline
The Republic of Nicaragua aims to have 85% of its
electricity generated through renewable energy by2025. As a first step to achieve this target, a 1.38MW
solar power plant, the largest in Central America todate, was constructed using grant aid from Japanese
ODA. The solar power plant can accommodate theelectricity consumption of 1,100 houses and will be
opened to neighboring residents, students and tourists
as a solar park with the aim of increasing environmental
awareness.
Details
Oriental Consultants provided engineering services forthe design and construction supervision of thefollowing components:◆ Grid connected 1.38MW Solar PV (Photovoltaic)
System: estimated power generation is approximately
1,985 MWh/year, with a reduction of CO 2 ofapproximately 1,100 t/year.
◆ Facilities:> Administration Building (324m 2): exhibition hall,office, guard room, storage, etc.
> Electrical Building (352m2): electrical room andtransformer room.
◆ Data Management and Monitoring System: remotemonitoring through the Internet.
The concepts of our design emphasized environment
friendliness as demonstrated below:◆ Arrangement of PV panel layout and drainage
plan utilizing the natural land features◆ Designing the administration and electricalbuildings in the image of a tree, whereby trees are
known to reduce CO 2 in the environment byabsorbing CO2 during photosynthesis. Similarly, thePV panels on the roofs convert light energy toelectricity, resulting in an overall reduction of CO2
in the environment.

PV layout Image

Rainwater Flow Image

Building Design Concept

Panoramic View

36

NEWS LETTER 2013

Project Accomplishments by AJCE Members

CONSULTING SERVICES FOR THE PROJECT FOR CONSTRUCTION OF
RAILWAY FLY-OVER [NARNY GUUR] IN ULAANBAATAR CITY IN MONGOLIA

Principal
Firm
Project Site
Finance
PeriodType ofServices

CTI Engineering
International Co., Ltd.
Ulaanbaatar City, Mongolia Client
Ministry of Roads andTransportation, Mongolia
Grant Aid, Japan
Nov. 2009 - Nov. 2012 (37 months)
Basic/Detailed Design andConstruction Supervision

Project Outline
The project is to provide a fly-over and approachroads crossing the railway and Narny Zam as a crucial
north-south corridor of the Middle Ring Road
encompassing the integrated central business districtof Ulaanbaatar City.
The major attainments of the project are: i) effective
enhancement of road network, ii) safe and smoothvehicular traffic and iii) improvement of quality ofsocial life in Ulaanbaatar City.
Project Scope
The scope of the project under Japanese Grant Aid isconstruction of 895 meter long new road, consisting ofa fly-over and northern/southern approach roads.
< 1. Fly-over : L=262m >- Superstructure
6-span continuous steel I-girder- Erection methods Crane with bent & Launching- Abutment
RC inverted-T type
- PierSteel Multi-pillar (ϕ 1.5m)- Foundation
Cast-in-place pile (ϕ2.5m) &Rotary
penetration steel pile (ϕ 1.5m)- Incidental facilities Street lighting & drainage< 2. Northern Approach Road : L=280m >- Channelization
223m (east) & 205m (west)- Intersection
2 locations at Narny Zam- Incidental facilities Skid-resistant pavement, street
lighting, traffic signals, drainage,
delineator, guard pipe, etc< 3. Southern Approach Road : L=353m >- U-turn road
560m in total- Incidental facilities Street lighting, drainage, roadmarking, delineator, etc
Project Features in Management Aspects[Schedule] intensive and efficient work at project sitein April - October due to severe climate condition[Quality] prefabrication and shop assembly of major
steel members at supplier's workshop in Japan[Safety] ultimate completion of the project without
any interruption to strictly punctual railway operationand no derivative traffic congestion at Narny Zam

37

Fly-over section above
Ulaanbaatar Railway

Fly-over section above Narny Zam

Northern approach road(view from south to north)

Northern approach road(view from north to south)

Fly-over section between
Railway and Narny Zam

Staircase at east-south
portion of fly-over section

Southern approach road(view from north to south)

Southern approach road(view from south to north)

Reinforced earth retaining
wall for approach roads

Opening ceremony withattendance of VIPs

NEWS LETTER 2013

Project Accomplishments by AJCE Members

Astana City Water Supply and Sewerage Project
Principal
Firm (s)NJS Consultants Co., Ltd.

Project
Site

Astana City, Kazakhstan

ClientAKIMAT of Astana City

Finance

JICA

PeriodJune 1999 -August 2012

Type of
Project◆ Feasibility Study, Design andConstruction Supervision

Project Outline
NJS completed the Feasibility Study and Master Planof the project in 2000 and the detailed design in 2003.
The water supply component of the project included
the construction of a new reservoir; construction of
210 MLD water intake tower and pump station; 100
MLD water treatment plant; rehabilitation of main
distribution pump station; replacement of 100 km of
distribution pipelines up to 1000 mm diameter, valves
and appurtenances; installation of 153,900 water
meters and monitoring system for the intake,treatment and distribution networks.

Water Intake Pump Station

The Sewerage component of the project included
the rehabilitation and upgrading of existing sewage
treatment plant up to 136 MLD including the inlet
pump station, grit chamber, primary andsedimentation tank, aeration tank, final sedimentation
tank, treated effluent pump station and sludge
treatment facility; rehabilitation and construction of
17 sewage pump stations; replacement of 21 km
sewers; and monitoring systems for the treatment
plant and intermediate pump stations.

Sewerage Treatment Plant

Details
Conducted topographic, utility and soils surveys;
preparation of detailed design, prequalification
documents and tender documents; monitoring
progress; quality control; construction supervision andinspection; EIA; review of contractor's payment andmonitoring of financial aspects; and supervision of
testing and commissioning, including M&E works andprocess commissioning.

Discharge Pump Station

Water Treatment Plant

38

NEWS LETTER 2013

Project Accomplishments by AJCE Members

Xinjin Zhi Museum
Principal
Firm (s)P.T. Morimura & Associates, Ltd.
(M&E Consulting engineer)
KENGO KUMA & ASSOCIATES(Architect)Oak Structural Design Office(Structural engineer)

Project Site

Xinjin, Chengdu, Sinchuan prefecture,
China

ClientFantasia (Chengdu) ECO-torment
Company Limited

PeriodDesign & Construction
2008/10 - 2011/12

Type of
Project

Schematic design,Design development

Project Outline
This is a museum which stands on ground sacred to
Taoism, one of the big three religions in China, at thefoot of Mt. Laojun.
The building features a façade, which is constructedwith tiles made from locally sourced materials andmanufactured locally using traditional methods, inrespect of Taoism which stresses the importance ofbeing in harmony with nature. The tiles are suspended
on wires, so that they seem to float in mid-air, to give
an impression of light, airy weightlessness to create anorganic façade that blends in with the natural
surroundings. The tiles of the façade also serve to
break up the sunlight, creating a gentle diffusion ofsoft light in the building interior.
A gently sloping spiral walkway has been constructedto lead visitors to each exhibition space in a natural
progression. From the exhibition space on the top
floor you can enjoy magnificent views of Mt. Laojun.
Details
Building area:
Total floor area:
Number of floor:
Structural:

Approx. 4,000m2
Approx. 2,100m2
3 stories, 1 basement
Reinforced concrete, partly steel
flame

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NEWS LETTER 2013

Project Accomplishments by AJCE Members

Nhat Tan Cable - Stayed Bridge Project
Principal
Firm (s)CHODAI CO., LTD.

Project Site

Hanoi City, Vietnam

ClientProject Management Unit 85, Ministry ofTransport of Vietnam

Finance

Japanese ODA Loan(STEP)

PeriodNovember, 2007 - Present

Type of
Project◆ Bridge Construction◆ Detailed Design Service◆ Construction Supervision Service

Project Outline
The Nhat Tan Bridge, which is located approximately
3.5km downstream of Thang Long Bridge, is planned
to mitigate further congestion in the alreadycongested bridges over the Red River. The Nhat Tan
Road is located in the northern part of Hanoi Ring
Road 2 which is expected to contribute theeconomic development along the route. Vietnam willcelebrate the Thanh Long - Hanoi Millennium
Anniversary in October 2010. The bridge will be thememorial bridge.
The main bridge is designed as six-span continuous
cable-stayed bridge which forms the signature spanof the project. When completed, the Nhat Tan Bridge
will be called ''Vietnam-Japan Friendship Bridge''.
Among three interchanges constructed in the Project,
Vinh Ngoc Interchange will connect Nhat Tan Road
and National Highway No.5. The northern end of the
project road will be extended to Noi Bai Airport.
Alternative road connecting the airport and the city
center.
Details
Project Length, Widths: 9.95 km, W=33.2 - 47.3 m, 25 m x 2-Bridges : L= 3.5 km
・Main Bridge (Cable-stayed bridge)(L=1,500m, Main span L=300m)
・Approach Bridges(L=2,255m, PC box girder, Super-T girder)・Other Bridges (L=240mx2, PC box girder,
L=288m x 2, Super-T girder)-Interchanges:
・Full-clover type 1(crossing at NH5 extension),Others 240NEWS LETTER 2013

Project Accomplishments by AJCE Members

THE PROJECT FOR RURAL WATER SUPPLY IN
OROMIA REGION
Principal
Firm(s)

KOKUSAI KOGYO CO.,LTD.

Project Site

Oromia region, the Federal
Democratic Republic ofEthiopia

ClientOromia Water, Mineral andEnergy Bureau

Finance
PeriodJapan's Grant Aid
Construction:
Apr.2010 - Nov.2012

Type of Project1) Facility Construction2) Equipment Procurement- Water Supply facilities(Water source, Reservoir Tank, Pipeline, Water Faucet)
2) Equipment Procurement- Maintenance equipment(Motorbike, Pick-up Truck)- Survey equipment(GPS, Geophysical survey equipment, Survey
equipment, Water analysis Kit)

Project Outline
Ethiopia is located in the northeastern part of Africa,
and the Oromia Region, the target region, is locatedin the center of Ethiopia with an estimated areaslightly smaller than Japan at 353,690 km2 and a
population of 25 million people - the largest region by
area and population in Ethiopia. However, the watersupply facility ratio in this region remains at 46.7%(urban 87.5%, rural 40.18%). Hence, residents havebeen forced to spend time to transport unsanitarywater from a water source to their residence, which
can take nearly a whole day. This has been the causeof economic stagnation, decline in school
attendance and increasing occurrence of water
borne illnesses.
In order to improve this situation, the Ethiopian
government has set a target for every person in
Ethiopia to have access to safe water. The project
objective is to supply clean water to the 90,000
people in three Zones, West Showa, Horo Guduru andJimma, resulting in an improved living environment for
those people.
Details
1) Facility Construction- Hand Pump
- Spring Protection

41NEWS LETTER 201342

NEWS LETTER 201343

NEWS LETTER 201344

NEWS LETTER 2013

Tachibana Annex Building, 2-25-14 Kameido, Koto-ku, Tokyo 136-0071 Japan TEL : +81-3-3638-2561
E-mail : info@ctii.co.jp http : //www.ctii.co.jp/

3-21-1 Nihombashi Hama-cho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-8430 Japan TEL : +81-3-3668-0451
E-mail : koho@ctie.co.jp http : //www.ctie.co.jp/

45NEWS LETTER 2013

President

MASAFUMI MIYAMOTO

46

NEWS LETTER 2013

Editor's note
We contribute to making people's lives better and safer and the economy more efficient to achieve social
development by constructing a variety of infrastructure. However, tragic disasters such as the Great East Japan
Earthquake and Tsunami in March 2011, and a recent highway tunnel collapse accident in Japan sent a strong
message to the nation that useful infrastructure can pose a great risk if it is not designed taking into account the entire
lifetime of operation and maintenance and if this maintenance is not properly carried out.
Much infrastructure that was constructed during Japan's period of high economic growth, between 1950s and 1970s,
has deteriorated and is increasingly in need of rehabilitation. However, the proper maintenance of the vast amounts ofexisting infrastructure is extremely costly, while any new benefit is hard to identify. It is, therefore, difficult to gain
sufficient budget for such maintenance works and little interest is shown in them by society..
With deep understanding of the importance of maintenance of all existing infrastructure, AJCE should take the initiative
to actively raise awareness of this not only amongst administrators, engineers and citizens in Japan, but also in
emerging countries where much construction of infrastructure is under way.
Osamu Nakahara
Vice Chair of Publicity and Relations Committee

AJCE NEWS LETTER April 2013
Publication: ASSOCIATION OF JAPANESE CONSULTING ENGINEERS (AJCE)
3-16-4, Ueno, Taito-ku, TOKYO 110-0005 JAPANTel : +81-3-3839-8471 Fax: +81-3-3839-8472
Email: info@ajce.or.jp Web: http://www.ajce.or.jp
Edit: AJCE Publicity & Relations Committee
Cover: Miho Yamato, Publicity & Relations Committee
Layout: Daioh Co.,Ltd.
1-7-5 Uchikanda Chiyoda-ku, TOKYO 101-0047 JAPANTel : +81-3-3292-1488·1487 Fax: +81-3-3292-1485
http://www.dai-oh.co.jp

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