Contents■ We are discussing a “framework” and a “core” for problem solving.
■ The 15th Conference on Public Works Research and Development in Asia
■ Implementation and Introduction of Portable Structural Testing Equipment (PSTE) for Improvement of Masonry
Earthquake Resistant Houses and Buildings in relation to the May 27, 2006 Jogyakarta Earthquake in Indonesia■ “Disaster Information Sharing System” plays active part in emergency drill■ Japan-Germany Workshop on Effluent and Sludge Treatment■ 8th Japan-UK Workshop on Road Science and Technology (October 12 & 13, 2006 in the UK)

A total of 21 topics were presented at the meetings,
with 12 participants from Japan and 11 fromGermany. Of particular interest in the discussion
were wastewater systems to separately treat humanexcreta and urine, the MBR, and pharmaceuticals
and personal care products in wastewater.

■ 7th Canada-Japan R & D Workshop

A scene from the meeting■ 8th Japan-UK Workshop on Road Science and Technology (October 12 & 13, 2006 in the UK)
Traffic Engineering Division
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportof Japan and the Highways Agency of the UK held aworkshop on the road science and technology.
Participants from both Japan and the UK had
presentations and actively exchanged opinions in fivesessions: Performance Management, Operating theNetwork, Use of Information, Contingency Planning
and Quality Infrastructure.
Reports by UK participants provided with the latest
information on the operation of the traffic control
system introduced by the agency and on public

No.19

relations and appealing activities for road users.
Both Japan and the UK agreed to continue to hold
the Japan-UK workshop next year and beyond.

Winter 2006

News Letter

ISSN 0389-4150

th8 Japan-UK Workshop on Road Science and Technology■ We are discussing “Framework” and “Core” for problem solving.

■ 7th Canada-Japan R & D Workshop

MOCHIZUKI Tsuneyoshi, Director-General, NILIM
Research Coordinator for Advanced Building TechnologythThe 7 Canada-Japan Research & Development
Workshop was held in Ottawa October 3-4, 2006.
Host organizations were National Institute for Landand Infrastructure Management, Building ResearchInstitute, Institute for Building Environment andEnergy Conservation, Natural Resources Canada andNational Research Council Canada. The workshop
has been held by Japan and Canada since 1993, tocooperate in research and to exchange and spread
information in the fields of environmental technology
and building services for residential buildings.
Twenty-two researchers and experts participatedin the workshop to present current research on
topics of “District Energy Systems”, “HumanBehavior and Energy Efficiency”, and “Ventilationand Indoor Air Quality”. Especially active
discussions were held in the presentations on fuelcells and the performance evaluation technology toconserve service-related energy. A researchcooperation policy was discussed and confirmed, andthe workshop ended successfully.

The mission of NILIM is researchthat has direct bearing on socialissues. However, the reality is that
we are busy solving problems athand. Social issues are so deepthat we cannot get to the heart ofthe matter by such way. Now, weare discussing getting started by setting“Framework” and “Core” for problem solving. Let'stake safety and security as an example.
For example, assuming that we have set the goal ofachieving a society with safety and peace of mind
from natural disasters, we call the whole actions
carried out for this goal over a few decades“Framework.” In other word, we assume the “state”

of society to be achieved, describe it in detail, thenwe set up a “Framework” listing all actions that areconsidered necessary to achieve the state.
But this is just an assumption. We always need tochange the state to be achieved and the framework ofactions along the way, taking into account theprogress of the actions and the reactions fromsociety. We need to set, as an element for the “C(check)” of the PDCA Cycle (Plan, Do, Check, Act),“Core” focusing on continued data collection.
I expect that supporting actions and research
activities will be organically integrated by combining”Framework” and ”Core.”
My message is a little abstract, and I would like toupdate you as we move forward.

■ The 15th Conference on Public Works Research and Development in Asia

International Research Division■ 2006 Annual Report of NILIM – English version – (now available on our website)

thAn English version of the "2006 Annual Report of NILIM" is available on our website (www.nilim.go.jp) for
your reference on our research activities and accomplishments.

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

News Letter

No.19

Winter2006

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

The 15 Conference on Public Works Research andDevelopment in Asia was held in Tsukuba, Tokyo,and Nagoya from Monday, November 6, 2006 toFriday, November 17, 2006.
The conference participants were executive officers
and engineers responsible for infrastructure
management of governmental administration andresearch organizations in 9 countries: China,
Indonesia, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan,
the Philippines, and Japan. The conference aims toexchange views and opinions on such common
subjects in Asia as the environment, naturaldisasters, and infrastructure development andfurthermore to establish research networks among
the participants' countries by building a common
understanding of the subjects.
The theme of the 15th conference was 'Social andEconomic Effects of Road Network Development.'
Eight participants including Mr. Mochizuki, NILIM
Director-General (Korea attended it in Nagoya),presented their reports on case studies in their own
countries, followed by discussions, in the Session on
Subjects of Common Interest held on November 8.
(See Photo 1) They also attended the Sessions onSpecific Subjects such as Effect and Evaluation ofRoad Network Development, Road Traffic Safety andNews LetterRoad
Environment,andRoadStructures
Management on November 9 and 10.
thAs a highlight of the conference, the 15 International Symposium on Land Development and Civil
Engineering in Asia was held in Nagoya city in Aichi
prefecture in conjunction with the Chubu Regional
Bureau on November 16, 2006. (See Photo 2) The
symposium subject was "Social and Economic
Effects of Road Network Development in Asia." Mr.
Neya, Deputy Director General for Engineering
Affairs, MLIT Policy Bureau, on behalf of Mr.
Taniguchi, MLIT Vice-Minister for Engineering
Affairs, gave a special address at the conference.
Mr. Shigematsu, Managing Officer, Toyota Motor
Corporation, presented on 'Automotive Safety
Technologies toward Achieving Sustainable Mobility.'
Mr. Mochizuki, NILIM Director General, Mr. Sakai,
Director of Road Department, MLIT Chubu Regional
Bureau, and Dr. KAN, Director of Highway
Engineering Research Department of the Korea
Institute of Construction Technology, presented theircase studies.
In the final program of the symposium, a panel
discussion was held on 'Social and Economic Effectsof Road Network Development in Asia' chaired by Mr.
Sato, NILIM Director of Road Department, andparticipants from China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Nepal, Pakistan, and the Philippines in particular

reported on the status of their countries and theirviews on the subject. Almost 100 people who wereinvolved in public works in the Chubu region
attended the symposium.
The conference, through the discussions, site visits
and the symposium, is summarized as follows:- The participants recognize the “Social andEconomic Effects of Road Network Development” aswell as the importance of conducting researches forthem.
- The participants recognize that each countryshould learn from the insights and experiences ofcountries in Asia, to enhance and support the roadnetwork development.
- The participants recognize the needs to cooperatewith each other and continue the conference in thefuture.
All the participants agreed on the need to continue
the conference and to set up a network in futureamong the participants' countries.

■ Implementation and Introduction of Portable Structural Testing Equipment (PSTE)
for Improvement of Masonry Earthquake Resistant Houses and Buildings
in relation to the May 27, 2006 Jogyakarta Earthquake in Indonesia
Housing Production DivisionDuring the May 27, 2006 Jogyakarta Earthquake,the building that had severe damage were those whichwere constructed by using burned brick or block as
partitions or bearing walls. Those damaged buildings
also caused human casualties during the disaster.
Brick and block walls are familiar and represent a
standard construction method that has been used
for hundreds of years. In the past, masonry walls
usually were used for housing, and at present areused for many kinds of buildings, including high risebuildings.
Sixth months after the disaster, reconstruction
work has been carried out in those damaged areas.
It appears that those masonry construction styles
are still the method chosen by most people. The
Government of Japan, through the Embassy ofJapan (EOJ), has conducted a ''Grant Assistance for
Grass-roots Human Security Projects'' by cooperation
with the Center for Earthquake Engineering,
Dynamic Effect and Disaster Studies (CEEDEDS) of
the University of Islamic Indonesia (UII) Jogyakarta
on improvement of foremen's skill workmanship.
This program was carried out by considering thedamage due to low quality of construction work andthe lack of earthquake-proof housing technology.

In order to give more understanding toconstruction foremen and the community, Tetsuro
Goto of the National Institute for Land andInfrastructure Management (NILIM) of Japan has
developed a very simple tool, namely Portable
Structural Testing Equipment (PSTE) for testing
masonry performance against earthquake force(Figure 1). There were
160 foremen trainees
and 23 among of themwere selected for theadvanced workshop. At
least
100people
attended the workshop,
includingcommunity
andinstitution
representatives such as
Fig. 1 PSTE Unit
government
officers,NGO members, students and journalists.
Two districts were selected from Jogyakarta andCentral Java Provinces. Klaten and Bantul were thetwo districts that represented the most severe
damage during the quake (Figure 2).
For testing purposes, brick quality, mixing ratio ofmortar, and plaster effect were selected. The brickCentral Java Province
SlemanKlatan

Yogyakarta
BantulFig. 4 Test by an elderlyJava Island
Fig. 2 Workshop Location

used was hand-made bricks.
specimens were prism and diagonal types. Thoseparameters give an understanding that material andworkmanship play an important role in masonry
performance. This
activity was done
from 13-16 November,2006 in both districts.
Those foremen andcommunities have achance to test by using
PSTE. The designed
test procedure is Fig. 3 Test by a lady
very simple and canbe done by foreman, man, woman, or child (Figure 3and 4). Figure 5 shows the result on masonry after

testing.
A very small amount of Fig. 5 Test Result
electric power was used
for data recording, and to generate the load ahydraulic pump was used that operated bymanpower. Figure 6 shows a foreman conducting thediagonal test. This kind of field test has beenapplied for the first time in Indonesia and thespecimen used was done by the foreman himself.

Fig. 6 Test by a foreman (mandor)■ “Disaster Information Sharing System” plays active part in emergency drill

Research Coordinator for Advanced Information Technology

When disaster happens, all concerned want toshare information quickly for the right decision
making. Therefore a "disaster information sharingsystem" was jointly developed by the Earthquake
Disaster Prevention Division and the Information
Technology Division. This is a Web system combining
a geographic information system (GIS) with anelectronic bulletinboard system (BBS).
TheGISshows
positions of disaster
information, and theBBS manages theevent time, contents
and changes, andthe sequence of each Fig. 1 Disaster Information Sharing System

related event.
In an earthquake emergency drill which the Chubu
District Development Bureau performed on
September 1, 2006, this system was used for the
first time. As local offices input disaster informationsuch as damage or inspection reports, they wereautomatically arranged and displayed on PCs andprojection screens at disaster control headquarters
and related offices. The drill participants evaluated ithighly, reporting,"We are able toshare a great dealofinformationsmoothly throughthis system".
Fig. 2 Earthquake emergency drill■ Japan-Germany Workshop on Effluent and Sludge Treatment
thThe 10 Japan-Germany Workshop on Wastewaterand Sludge Treatment was held October 9-13th,
2006. Meetings were held in Berlin, Germany onOctober 9 and 10th.
Following the meetings, wevisited an experimental site of new sanitation

Water Quality Control Department

concept on the separate collection of gray water,brown water and yellow water at the BerlinStahnsdorf treatment facility, a flushing system inPrichsenstadt, and Membrane Bio-Reactor (MBR)
experiment by Huber AG in Berching.