Jan. 6, 2015

Japan Society of Civil Engineers
International Activities Center

IAC News No. 27
A New Year’s Message from the President
A happy new year to you all! This year we move on from last year's 100thanniversary events with a push towards further expansion.
Our International Roundtable Meeting and International Forum were held on
November 19th and 20th last year. The 3rd International Roundtable Meeting wasmarked by detailed, high-quality presentations regarding the worsening natural
disaster situation, starting with the storm surge in the Philippines in 2013, andthere were wide-ranging discussions about countermeasures.

Masahiko ISOBE, Dr. Eng.,
102nd JSCE President

At the International Forum, there was a JSCE presentation commemorating the100 years since our founding. Covering the past and future of civil engineering in Japan, the presentation
made clear that the current mission of civil engineering is to construct the foundation for a sustainable society.
Regarding disaster prevention, an important element of sustainability, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure,
Transport and Tourism described how roads were reopened soon after the Great East Japan Earthquake. In
particular, the representative explained the "Operation Comb" strategy and introduced their plan for future roaddevelopments. Then the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) presented the results of calculations they
had made for the actual cost of maintaining the social infrastructure in the future, with emphasis on the needfor a proper allocation of resources. These talks were followed by extremely interesting presentations from theChinese Institute of Civil and Hydraulic Engineering (CICHE), the Royal Institute of Engineers in theNetherlands (KIVI NIRIA), the Philippine Institute of Civil engineers (PICE), the Institution of Civil Engineers(ICE), the Korean Society of Civil Engineers (KSCE), the Indonesian Society of Civil and Structural Engineers(HAKI), the China Civil Engineering Society (CCES), Engineers Australia (EA), and the Vietnam Federation ofCivil Engineering Associations (VFCEA).
Today, with the whole earth seriously affected by the scale of mankind's activities, our task is a pressing one.
We must take action to build a sustainable society of enriched lifestyles. This includes sustainability in resource
utilization. In the civil engineering field, we need to face each and every specific issue in order to reach thisgoal. The issues are innumerable, and include disaster prevention, energy utilization, environmental
conservation, industrial infrastructure development, and urban development. Only through international
collaboration will we be able to effectively and efficiently meet the demands on us. I believe that the key toimproving the welfare of humanity in the future lies in each country learning from the experience and lessons ofothers. We must all help each other.
I wish all our members and all those associated with us the very best of wishes in their activities in this comingyear.

On the 40th National Convention of Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers“Civil Engineers at the Forefront of Innovative Infrastructure Systems”１．Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers PICE
In 1974, Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers was established as the merge ofPhilippine Society of Civil Engineers and Philippine Association of Civil Engineers.
Owing to the achievements acquired in spite of its short history, the 72,000 members
enjoy a high social reputation today. This year the PICE Legazpi Chapter hosted the40th National Convention from November 13 to 15. 2,000 participants were welcomedby the beautiful Mayon Volcano Mountain.
ISHII, Yumio, Dr. Eng.,

２．Opening Ceremony
Past President, JSCE
The presidents of 110 chapters including 9 from overseas were parading in with thechapter colors. After the parade of National Standard, PICE Standard, Doxology, National Anthem and PICE
Anthem, the opening of the convention was declared.
After the welcome remarks by the Provincial Governor, the Mayor of Legazpi, the keynote was delivered byHon. Congressman, Fuentabella. All of them focused on the significance of infrastructure and the expectation
to PICE. At the introduction of personages, the presidents of concerned engineering societies were introduced
including the author, myself as the delegate of Japan Society of Civil Engineers. It is also worth noting thatmany women hold PICE membership, and female participants were as many as one third of the entire
participants in this convention.

Certificate of Appreciation with the picture ofMayon Volcano to the speaker

Participants of 40th PICE National Convention

３．Election of Leaderships
Engr. Eugenio R. Pipo, Jr., Assist. Undersecretary of Department of Public Works and Highways was electedto the National President.
４．Special Lectures
I delivered a presentation “100 Years of JSCE – from Modernization to Sustainable Development“ whichhighlighted the friendly relationship between the Philippines and Japan.
Its contents:(I) Friendship Between the Philippines and Japan, PICE and JSCE
(II) Infrastructure of Japan before the Meiji Restoration(III) Modernization by Transfer of Western Engineering(IV)Establishment of JSCE in 1914
(V) Contribution of JSCE and Civil Engineers(VI) Activities of JSCE, Today and FutureI concluded my presentation with the announcement of JSCE 100th anniversary commemorative ceremony, towhich the participants were encouraged to attend. My presentation was followed by three special lectures:
Dr. Ernest S. de Castro on “Innovated Civil Engineering” Engr. Efren R. Abratique on “Modern Traffic SignalSystem” Dr. Eric Con “Storm Surges and Waves.”
５．Technical Track
Issues on project management, hydro, traffic, geotechnical, and environment were actively discussed.
６．Fellowship Night
Until midnight, the participants enjoyed dinner with songs and dances performed by not only professionals but
also amateurs including the leaderships of Legazpi Chapter.

Centenary of Founding Japan Society of Civil Engineers
International Events (Preliminary Report)
During the Japan Society of Civil Engineers Centenary Week (November 17 to 21, 2014), the followinginternational events were held. You find the summary of those events in this issue.
１．Asian Civil Engineering Coordinating Council’s Executive Committee Meeting
Asian Civil Engineering Coordinating Council (ACECC) the 27th Executive Committee Meeting (ECM) washeld on November 18-19, hosted by Japan Society of Civil Engineers in Tokyo. On this occasion, 11 out of the
12 affiliated civil engineering societies participated. On the day before the ECM, a technical tour to Tokyo
Skytree was held, and after the ECM, on 19th a Technical Seminar was held, moderated by Professor Eiki
Yamaguchi of Kyushu Institute of Technology and Associate Professor Eiichi Sasaki of Tokyo Institute ofTechnology. In the technical seminar there were presentations on ITS, high speed rail, and the Metropolitan
Expressway by Japanese engineers.

Participants in ACECC 27th ECM

２．Round Table Meeting on Disaster Management
On November 19, the 3rd Round Table Meeting on Disaster
Management (3rd RTM) was held, hosted by the Japan Society of Civil
Engineers at the Auditorium in the JSCE HQ. Professor Keiichi Toda ofKyoto University Graduate School of Engineering chaired, andspecialists from the civil engineering related societies of 9 countries inAsia, Europe and other regions, made presentations regarding theirefforts, policies, plans, and measures for disaster risk reduction. Mr.
Yusuke Amano, Director of International Affairs Office, Water andDisaster Management Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure,
RTM at the Auditorium

Transport and Tourism discussed the viewpoint and approaches of the government. In the third part of theInternational Forum, which was held on the following day, Prof. Toda provided the summary of eachpresentation which was given on the previous day and provided the overview of RTM, referring to future
directions for the RTM.
３．International Forum and Welcome Reception
The International Forum on “Contributions of Infrastructure to Life of Affluence” was held, chaired by Kiyoshi
Kobayashi, JSCE Vice President at JP Tower Hall on November 20. Prof. Masahiko Isobe the JSCE Presidentdelivered a keynote speech at the opening, followed by the presentation by Hideo Tokuyama, Vice-Minister forEngineering Affairs, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Then, 10 representatives ofoverseas civil engineering societies discussed unique and useful approaches and perspectives. This forum
was a nice information exchange opportunity for those participants as well as the audience of over 250 people
including 95 guests abroad. They also had time to meet with each other at the welcome reception, which washeld soon after that forum, and enjoyed conversations with new and old friends.

Prof. Isobe delivers a keynote speech

Mr. Howard of EA, Prof. Yeung of ACECC,and Dr. Ohnishi of JSCE (from left to right)

４．International Workshop on Sustainability and Resilience of Infrastructures Based on Maintenanceand Management”
The International Conference on “Sustainability and Resilience of Infrastructures Based on Maintenance andManagement” was held, hosted by Structural Engineering Committee at the JSCE HQ on November 20. It had
the audience of 48 people, 7 civil engineering experts shared their knowledge, experiences and views in thepanel discussion in the first half of the workshop. Then, Japanese experts participated in the discussion
session in the latter half.
【Written by International Activities Center】※Names, affiliations/titles in the above report are referred to the list of participants in those international events.

What’s HappeningUpdates
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. 39
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 can be 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 2nd book in the ECCE Book Project,”Footbridges-Small is beautiful.” 17 footbridges are contributed from JSCE: http://www.ecceengineers.eu/

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Editor's postscript
A Happy New Year! We have entered the year 2015. It is the year in which Marty, the hero of the famous
movie “Back to the Future Part II,” made time travel into the future. The goods we could not expect thirty years
ago such as eyeglass-shaped wearable communication tools, tablet PCs, 3D videos and video conference,
appeared in the movie, but they have become available in this present time. I admire Steven Spielberg for his
creativity, and I also would like to start the year with much creativity and vision for the future. （H.I.）【Comments and Questions】
Please send us your feedback and comments to help us improve the IAC news. We look forward to hearing
from you. JSCE IAC: iac-news@jsce.or.jp