No.33
July 1, 2015

No.27

My student-life, study and impression
about Japanese Civil Engineering
Justin Shrestha, 3rd year PhD student
Hokkaido University
I was born and raised in Patan which is one of the major

understanding on the subject matters and obtained acities of Nepal known for its rich cultural heritage. My

general idea on the Japanese civil engineering field. I wasinterest in the civil engineering started during myhighly impressed by Japanese approach of project

undergraduate studies which later became more specificmanagement using automation and integration of latest

towards the field of structural engineering. Japanesetechnologies and innovations to the practical applications.

universities being the frontiers in the field, I joined theThe quality and standards of work along with the safety

Masters course in English Engineering Education (e3)requirements set by the Japanese construction industry is

program at Hokkaido University. In two years of time, I

unmatched. Due to such reasons, I have developed strong

developed solid background and deep interest in theinterest to work in Japanese companies after myresearch area with tremendous support from Prof. Tamon

graduation.

Ueda. His motivation highly encouraged me to continue tothe PhD and now I am almost approaching at the end of
my student life. When I look back those past years, I reallyfind my journey wonderful with a great learning
experiences obtained at different stages of life.
As the part of the course-work, I took several interestingcourses

relatedtothefieldofmaterialscience,architectural and structural engineering such as, urban
planning,building

infrastructure

construction

maintenanceengineering,

technologies,
construction

management, where I was introduced to the latest
developments in the field of civil engineering including theevolution of construction industry in Japan. I also got
severalopportunities

tovisitconstruction

andmaintenance sites of tunnels, bridges, buildings, highways,
nuclear power plant etc. as a field visit for the course-workand laboratory technical trips. Through those practicallearning experiences, I was able to further enhance myIAC News No.33, July.1 2015

Presenting my paper during an international conference(PLSE 2012) in Hong Kong

For my PhD studies, I am currently doing research on
durability of bond interfaces between concrete and fiber
reinforced polymer (FRP) in different environmentalconditions. As we all know, rapid ageing of civilinfrastructures is one of the most common problems all

In addition, the collaborative research between thearound the world which can hinder the safety anduniversities and industries are also truly remarkable step

serviceability of the structures. Therefore, understandingin bringing out the latest innovations in the market.

these environmental related deterioration mechanisms
help us increase and predict the service life of theApart from the studies, I have collected several great

structures. I have published my key findings as several

memories of travelling around different places in Japan.

scientific articles and also presented my work in front of

Even though I loved most of the places, Biei, Hakodate,otherinternational

Noboribetsu, Shiretoko and Nara are some of my favorites

conferences. From my perspective, Japan is making hugein the list. I am not a great fan of winter and snow, butinvestments

theoccasionally I enjoy going to ski trip with my friends too. If

innovative products, technologies, standard codes andI leave Japan, one thing I would truly miss is its famous

guidelines in the several aspects of civil engineering which

hot springs. I have visited several hot springs around theis paying-off by being the one of the pioneers in the field.

Hokkaido and highly recommend to everyone. In thoseresearchers
inin

domestic

researchandanddevelopment

ofyears, I have made lots of international and Japanese
friends

bygettingassociated

with

some

students’organizations within Hokudai where we together organize
different social, educational, professional development
events throughout the year. Not only I have found many
good friends, but also developed a strong social network ofdifferent academic disciplines. I have few more months
remaining as a student which I would like to fully utilize
by continuing the learning process.

Tummel construction site visit

Also

Report on ASCE’s Annual Conference inPanama : Mr. Akira Aoyama and 100th
Anniversary of the Opening of Panama CanaltheUSGroup

displayed Akira Aoyama’s
photos,drawings

andmemorabilia on tables andstands which were placed

JSCE IAC US Group held the meeting to report thearound that auditorium soAmerican Society of Civil Engineers’ annual conference

that the audience could seeheld in Panama in October 2014 at the auditorium inthem

the JSCE HQ on April 2 2015. In that meeting, the US

environment in which Akira

Group talked about that annual conference, showed theworked

DVD on the civil engineer Akira Aoyama who worked onCanal construction. Akira’s

the Panama Canal construction 100 year ago and had ahandwritten drawings werespecial lecture with Emeritus Prof. Yutaka Takahashi asvery clean and sophisticated so that the audiencea speaker.

seemed not to believe that those had been produced byandonimagine
thehuman hands.

IAC News No.33, July.1 2015

thePanamaAkira Aoyama in his youth(Later he become the 23rdJSCE President)Prof. Masahiko Isobe theThen,

JSCE President delivered

University of Tokyo took a podium and delivered aanspeech,speech. He portrayed Akira Aoyama as a civil engineer

followed by the US Group

with anecdotes explaining the Japanese society in thosemembers’ reports on thedays, including his meeting with Mr. Aoyama. His talkASCE’swas very informative and interesting so that it held theopening

annualconference and the MiniGeneral

SessionEmeritusProf.

YutakaTakahashioftheaudience’s attention all through.

whichthe ASCE had set for theAfter his talk, the US group played the DVD on Akira

US Group to make a

Aoyama’s Achievements on Panama Canal Project

presentation, and a field

which had been shown along with the presentation oftrip to the Panama Canal. The US Group told that Prof.

Prof. Isobe at the Mini General Session. Many of

Isobe discussed Akira’s achievements and contribution

members of audience made comments and ask questions

to the construction of the Panama Canal and later histo the speakers at the Q & A session set at the end of thecontribution to the development of infrastructure inmeeting. When Dr. Ohnishi closed the meeting, it was

Japan at the Mini General Session. That group referred

about 30 minutes after the scheduled ending time.

Prof. Isobe
the JSCE President

to the responses of the audience who had been moved by
the Japanese civil engineer who had traveled alone toPanama and joined the construction, following his
dreams and motto “Do your best to leave the world【 Mr.

Hisanari

Ushirooka

memberoftheIAC

Information Networking Group】

better than you found it,” and who had appreciated Prof.
Isobe’s discussion, making the commnent “a beautifulpresentation” with a big hand.

Akira’s handwritten drawings and his photo in Panama

IAC News No.33, July.1 2015

Emeritus Prof. Yutaka Takahashi describes Akira
Aoyama with anecdotes.

Japanese experts to exchange knowledge and experience on

Report on Seminar on “Present and future roadinfrastructure maintenance in Vietnam andJapan”

the involved topic.
According to Prof. Hiroshi Yokota, University of Hokkaido,

The seminar on “Present and Future Road Infrastructure

Japan is honored to share its experience in the field of road

Maintenance in Vietnam and Japan” was held National

maintenance system for Viet Nam as well as other countries.

University of Civil Engineering (NUCE) on March 17, 2015,

In the coming time, Japan will focus on Viet Nam via SIP

co-organized by NUCE, the University of Tokyo, Hokkaido

project and he also hopes to strengthen the cooperation

University and Japan Society of Civil engineers (JSCE). The

between Vietnam and Japan.

CJV staff members and those co-organizers made asignificant

contribution

tothesuccessofseminar.

Remarkable results and photos were recorded at thisSeminar.
There were 150 participants from Ministry of Transport(MOT), Ministry of Construction (MOC), agencies, PMU,
JapaneseandVietnameseprestigious

universities

inconstruction

companies,Japan

VietandNam,international and Vietnamese leading experts in the field ofroad maintenance.
Assoc. Prof. Kohei Nagai, The University of Tokyo
According to Assoc. Prof. Kohei Nagai the University ofTokyo, this seminar is the 2nd SIP (Cross-ministerial
Strategic Innovation Program) international seminar on
Infrastructure Asset Management funded by Cabinet Officeof Japan. Title of the research project is a comprehensive
researchondevelopmentofroad

infrastructure

management cycle and its application in Japan and abroad.
The project term is from October 2014 to March 2019.
The presentations were delivered on the following topics:
Assoc. Prof. Pham Duy Hoa, Rector of NUCE
Speaking at the seminar, Assoc. Prof. Pham Duy Hoa, Rector
of NUCE noted that Japan is one of the most importantpartners of Viet Nam in the field of transport infrastructuredevelopment. Numerous large and important projects havebeen implemented efficiently with the help and cooperationof Japan. In recent years, NUCE cooperated with Japanese
partners

intheexchangeofexperience,advancedconstruction technologies applying in Viet Nam. So far,Japan has been involved many big projects of civil
construction, infrastructure and urban transport in VietNam. This seminar is a scientific forum for Vietnamese and

IAC News No.33, July.1 2015

・Standard specifications for maintenance and repair ofconcrete structures;・Deteriorations of road infrastructures in Japan;
・Vietnam Road management;
・Education program for maintenance expert in Gifu;
・Durable repair of concrete structures considering
re-deterioration;
・Opportunities for enhancing management andmaintenance of road infrastructure in Vietnam;
・Overview of bridge maintenance of NEXCO;・Standards for inspection maintenance and repair ofconcrete structures.

At the seminar, there were lots of discussion and exchange

Through a number of presented topics, the seminar was abetween speakers and attendees for better understanding of

scientific forum for experts from Japan and Vietnam to

the raised topics. Many questions posed by Vietnameseshare their experiences and discuss research proposals toexperts were fully responded by Japanese experts.

find out suitable solutions for the development of Vietnam'sinfrastructure.

The Seminar on “Present and future road infrastructure
maintenance in Vietnam and Japan” has been successfullyorganized with good results. It is the prerequisite to create acooperative network for promoting the research andtechnology transfer in the field of road inspection,
maintenance and repair ensuring the success of SIP projectin Viet Nam. The Seminar and its activities were reported
on Hanoi Television as well.

Group photo of the Speakers【Dr. Nguyen Hoang Giang, Director of CJV】

What’s Happening
・2015/7/8-10
EIT Civil Engineering Meeting (Pattaya, Thailand)・2015/7/22
IAC Japanese Civil Engineers the Global Leaders Symposium Series
No.5 on”Upper Kotmale Hydro Power Project” at the JSCE HQ, Tokyo
http://committees.jsce.or.jp/kokusai/node/80（Japanese only）

Updates・The summary of feature articles in the JSCE Magazine is available on
the JSCE website.
http://www.jsce-int.org/pub/magazine
・Concrete Committee International Newsletter No. 41
http://www.jsce.or.jp/committee/concrete/e/newsletter/Newsletter.htm
・Journal of JSCE
The Journal of JSCE is the collection of research papers which canbe viewed on the JSCE website.
https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/journalofjsce
・JSCE 100th Anniversary Postal Stamp was released in September,2014.
http://jsce100.com/node/250 (Japanese Only)・European Council of Civil Engineers (ECCE) has released the 2ndbook in ECCE Book Project, ”Footbridges-Small is beautiful.” 17
footbridges are contributed from JSCE:
http://www.ecceengineers.eu/

IAC News Subscription
The IAC News is one of the communication tools to share informationand ideas with the members. We would like to invite you, your friends
and colleagues to join the communication and to subscribe the IAC
News. Please register online: (http://www.jsce-int.org/node/150). We
look forward to meeting you.
Editor’s postscript

The 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games hit theheadlines very often in these days. Preparations for thosegames and plans of sports venues are underway at theinitiative of the Olympic Organizing Committee and theTokyo Metropolitan Government. However, the total costto construct the New National Stadium, the main venueof the games, will exceed the originally planned budget
162.5 billion yen by a large margin. That casts on anominous shadow over further communication between
the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science andTechnology and the Governor of Tokyo MetropolitanGovernment. The new national stadium is expected tocost several times as much as the previous Olympic
stadium did. The government should explain to thepeople in more plain terms as to the meanings,
appropriateness of building that huge stadium, and theuses of Olympic venues after the games.（H.I.）[Comments and Questions] JSCE IAC: iac-news@jsce.or.jp
Please send us your feedback and comments to help us improve theIAC news. We look forward to hearing from you.

IAC News No.33, July.1 2015