Contents■ Message from the Director-General■ Proposals by the Council for Engineering Policy on Land, Infrastructure and Transport■ The 14th Conference on Public Works Research and Development in Asia
■ French-Japanese Workshop on ITS■ TECHNICAL NOTE of National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management (August, 2004)■ The English Version of “2005 Annual Report of NILIM” is now on our website

No.15

December 2005

News Letter

ISSN 0389-4150■ Message from the Director-General
In August 2005, I
took over from Mr. Hamaguchi as DirectorGeneral.
This year is whenthe Basic Science andTechnology Plans arerevised, and the Council for Science andTechnology Policy isnow discussing the revisions. The Council
decided its basic policy to be the development of “scientific technologies for disseminating results to people andtechnologies supported by people”. The National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management is
a research institute of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport that also engages in fieldstudies. Thus, NILIM will continue to conduct studies jointly with organizations in the field to assist
them and be of benefit to the public.
In October, the 14th Conference on Public Works
Research and Development in Asia was held. Active
discussions were made on risk management andmitigation for flood and sediment related disasters,and were beneficial to all participants. We all recognized that individual and mutual support are vitalto mitigate damage and that measures to enhancesuch “community power” are the key to achieving
the goal. Society itself will be a subject of studies.
As the Council for Science and Technology Policy
mentioned, humanities and social sciences will play
an important role, and comprehensive studies areneeded. This may become a major topic in the 21stcentury as civilization progresses.
NILIM will continue to be a center of studies inthe field of infrastructure. We welcome your opinions and suggestions on related matters.
MOCHIZUKI Tsuneyoshi, Director-General, NILIMN I L I M

News Letter■ Proposals by the Council for Engineering Policy on Land, Infrastructure and Transport
Planning Division
In April 2005, the Council for Engineering Policy
on Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which wasestablished by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructureand Transport, announced proposals for drawing
up the Third Basic Science and Technology Plans,
which is entitled “Toward the Third Basic Scienceand Technology Plans - Scientific and technologicalpolicies for supporting life -”. Keeping pace with theprogress of the Plans, the National Institute forLand and Infrastructure Management and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport are investigating the directions and contents of technologies to be developed by the Ministry in the next five
years and concrete policies to achieve “social technologies”.
The Council for Science and Technology Policy
studies and discusses policies on the distribution offunds and people, important items related to thepromotion of science and technology and evaluationof nationally important research and development,and offers opinions to the Prime Minister. The Council supports the Prime Minister and the Cabinet by
actively promoting national strategies on scienceand technology, and draws up basic science andtechnology plans every five years.
The Council has given priority to information
communication, nanotechnology, and other advanced studies and technologies, which have suffered from insufficient dissemination of science andtechnology to the public.
The Council for Engineering Policy on Land, Infrastructure and Transport decided that technologies
for disseminating scientific results concerning thelives of people will also be important goals for technology development, and stated that:“Technologies for combining, integrating, and advancing diverse element technologies, and technologies that need to be improved by repeated field trials are typical “social technologies” in the areas ofland, infrastructure and transport. The Council
strongly proposes that research and development
should aim not only to “create knowledge” by studying advanced science and technology but also tofuse and deploy the knowledge using social technologies, such as comprehensive systems of society
and national land.”■ The 14th Conference on Public Works Research and Development in Asia
International Research Division
The 14th Conference on Public Works Researchand Development in Asia was held in Tsukuba, Tokyo and Sendai from Monday October 17 2005 toFriday October 28 2005.

ures and Risk Management against Flood and Coastal Disaster, Risk Management and Mitigation forSediment-related Disasters, and Flood Forecastingand Warning on October 20 and 21.

The conference participants were executive officers
and engineers responsible for infrastructure management of governmental administration and researchorganizations in 8 (eight) countries: Cambodia, India, Korea, Laos, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam andJapan. The conference aims to exchange views andopinions on such common subjects in Asia as theenvironment, natural disasters and infrastructuredevelopment and furthermore to establish research
networks among the participants’ countries by building a common understanding of the subjects.

As a highlight of the conference, the 14th International Symposium on Land Development and Civil
Engineering in Asia was held in Sendai city in Miyagi prefecture in conjunction with the Tohoku Regional Bureau on October 27, 2005. (See Photo 2) The
symposium subject was “Flood, Sediment and Tsunami Related Disasters in Asia.” Mr. Tanahashi,
Deputy Director-General for Engineering Affairs,

The theme of the 14th conference was “Risk Management and Mitigation for Flood and Sediment Related Disasters.” Seven participants including Mr.
Mochizuki, NILIM Director-General (Korea attended
it in Sendai), presented their reports on case studies
in their own countries, followed by discussions, inthe Session on Subjects of Common Interest on October 19. (See Photo 1) They also attended the Sessions on Specific Subjects such as Mitigation Meas-Photo 1 Tsukuba Session

MLIT Policy Bureau for Mr. Seiji, MLIT Vice-Ministerfor Engineering Affairs, gave a special address at theconference.
Dr. Imamura, Professor of Tohoku University, gave
the keynote speech on Global Disaster - Lessons
from the 2004 Sumatra Earthquake and Indian
Ocean Tsunami. Mr. Mochizuki, NILIM Director-General, Mr. Shinohara, Director of River Department,
MLIT Tohoku Regional Bureau, and Dr. Kim, Research Fellow of the Korea Institute of Construction
Technology, presented their case studies. As additional information, Mr. Terakawa of PWRI introduced the setting up of the International Centre forWater Hazard and Risk Management under the auspices of UNESCO.

Photo 2 Symposium Participants

In the final program of the symposium, a panel discussion was held on flood, sediment and tsunami related disasters in Asia chaired by Dr. Tsunaki, NILIM Director, and participants from Cambodia, India, Laos, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam in particular reported on the status of their countries andtheir views on the subject. Almost 80 people who
were involved in public works in the Tohoku region
attended the symposium.

- The participants recognize the role and need forfurther improvement in “Risk Management and Mitigation for Flood and Sediment Related Disasters” aswell as the importance in conducting research to facilitate them and in sharing information on forecasting data and natural disasters.
- The participants recognize that each country
should learn from the insights and experiences ofcountries in Asia, to enhance and support the infrastructure development and non-structural measures.
- The participants recognize the need to cooperatewith each other and continue the conference in thefuture.

The conference, through the discussions, site visits and the symposium, concluded with the following agreements:

All the participants agreed on the need to continue
the conference and to set up a network in futureamong the participants’ countries.

■ French-Japanese Workshop on ITS
Research Center for Advanced Information Technology
On September 22 (Thursday) and 23 (Friday), 2005,
the 4th French-Japanese Workshop on ITS was heldin Saint Brieuc, France, the first workshop of which
was held in September 2002.
From Japan, Mr. Kikukawa, director of The National
Expressway Division of The Road Bureau at the time,
Mr. Yamane, Counselor of The Minister’s Secretariat(in charge of international construction), Mr. Asano, assistant director of the ITS Policy and Program Office,and Mr. Yamada, Director of The Research Center for
Advanced Information Technology, etc., attended theworkshop. Members from France included Mr. Panhaleus (Directeur Adjoit de la Direction de la Sécurité etde la Circulation Routières de la Ministère del’Équipement des Tranports de l’Aménagement du Territoire du Tourisme et de la Mer), Mr. Janin (Directeur,Mission Tranports Intelligents), and Mr. Lebereton (Président du Conseil Général des Côtes d’Armor).

Photo 1 Welcome speech by Mr. Leberton, the governor of Cotes d'Armor

Photo 2 Road traffic information center of Rennes

Saint Brieuc, the capital of the Province of Côtesd’Armor, has a population of about 50,000, and forms
an urban area of about 110,000 inhabitants including
its suburbs. Governor Leberton, who is actively promoting ITS, invited the workshop.
On September 22, the members visited Vehipole,
which is a research institute on traffic accidents inCotes d’Armor, the road traffic information center ofRennes (Centre Régional d’Information et de Coordination Routieres de l’Ouest), and École Nationale Supérieure de Télécommunications de Bretagne.
On September 23, presentations and active discussions were made in three sessions: 1) ITS architecture,2) Speed control, and 3) Local authorities and ITS.
Three presentations were given by Japanese participants, which were entitled “ITS Enters the Second
Stage - Smart Mobility for All”, “SUICA - Actual Situation and Future Development” and “Safety Driving
Support System by Road-Vehicle Cooperation”.
Interesting studies and papers were demonstrated
and presented. Among them, the following particularlyattracted interest.
Traffic monitoring system: NEAVIA Technologies
developed a system for monitoring traffic conditions
and incidents. Cameras are installed on roadsidepoles to transmit images, which are used to monitor
traffic conditions and detect incidents. Incidents aredetected by sensing sounds specific to incidents using
acoustic sensors. The information is transmitted tothe adjacent pole successively by wireless. The powersource is solar batteries. The installation expenses arelikely to be not so high, and should be effective forroads in rural areas.

Crackdown on speeding: France started to implement an automated crackdown system using speed radars toward the end of 2003. The system is characterized by the fully automated process of detecting speeding and collecting fines. The French law was revised inJune 2003, abolishing the requirement for a policeman to confirm the speeding and thus the automatedcrackdown on speeding has been realized. About 860
radars have been installed (of which 70% are fixed and30% are mobile), and their locations are announced officially on the Internet. Drivers must deposit the equivalent amount of money to the fine (135 Euro up to 40
km/h speeding) even if they disagree. If the ofjection issustained, the deposit will be returned.
Speed control: Speed regulations are imposed on
Highway A7, which is congested on holidays, aiming
to make the traffic flow uniform. At 6 points on the90-km long highway stretch, recommended speeds are
informed to drivers through sign boards and FM radio
broadcasting, and the index number of violating vehicles are displayed at two points. This system increased
the peak traffic volume by about 10% and reduced
congestion and traffic accidents. The system has thesame objectives as the speed control system implemented on M25 in Britain, and is an effective measure
for mitigating congestion.
During the workshop, the author felt the passionate
commitment of France in promoting ITS. Informationexchange should be continued by creating opportunities such as workshops like this.

■ TECHNICAL NOTE of National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management(August, 2004)
No
164

Title of Paper
Technical documents developed for Building Standard Law, Housing Quality Assurance Act and other building/housing policy measures (Vol.2)

Names of Divisions
Standards and Accreditation System Division

186

Proceedings of the 9th Japanese-German Workshop on Waste Water and Sludge Treatment

Water Quality Control Department

187

Research on the deployment of an image information sharing system in the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

Information Technology Division■ The English Version of “2005 Annual Report of NILIM” is now on our website
aaWe publish the English version of “2005 Annual Report of NILIM” to show our research activities andaccomplishments, and you can see all of its contents on our website, www.nilim.go.jp.

National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
Asahi 1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0804, Japan(Tachihara) Tachihara 1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0802, Japan(Yokosuka) Nagase 3-1-1, Yokosuka, Kanagawa, 239-0826, Japan
TEL:+81-29-864-2675 FAX:+81-29-864-4322

News LetterNo.15

December 2005w w w . n i l i m . g o . j p