国総研ニューズレター

No.44

NILIM News Letter

Spring 2013

■ Overview of Budget for Priority Researches in Fiscal 2013
Planning and Research Administration Department, Planning Division
The NILIM, as a research institute of the Ministry of Land,Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), is allocated its
budget by the MLIT and conducts surveys and researches on theprovision and improvement of housing and social infrastructure.
In addition, in fiscal 2013, the NILIM incorporated 20 researchchallenges (at total cost of 2.54 million yen) including the following
four new ones as Priority Researches, which are implemented
preferentially using budget requested by NILIM independently.
[New Priority Researches]○ Research concerning safety and security• Survey on strategic methods of assessing priority of earthquake
resistance countermeasures of sewage treatment systems• Research on technologies to maintain activities and active conditions in port areas against large tsunami○ Research on strengthening international competitiveness andsmoothing urban activities• Research on methods of internationally deploying technologies
and standards for the port and harbor field○ Research on the environment• Research on evaluation of energy saving techniques for local
housing production engineering
Details * NILIM web site (Press releases)
http://www.nilim.go.jp/lab/bcg/kisya/journal/kisya20130131.pdf■ Experiment on tsunami run-up in a river using the largest hydraulic model in Japan
River Department, River Division
The water level of a tsunami run up a river greatly exceeded thecrest heights of the riverʼs levees for the first time since thebeginning of modern observations of tsunami in Japan whentsunami triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake struck thecoast of Tohoku. In order to understand the runup phenomenon ofthis tsunami, the division has constructed a large hydraulic model
encompassing a river mouth and 10km of the river course and isusing it to conduct tsunami runup experiments.
This tsunami inflicted severe damage on levees in a section
extending several kilometers from the river mouth, including
breaching of the levees and scouring of their back slopes. To enact
countermeasures to provide protection from such a river tsunami, it isessential to obtain basic information such as the distance the tsunami
runs up from the river mouth and the maximum water level at eachdistance from the river mouth. When the maximum water levels
obtained by the existing tsunami runup analysis method werecompared with the water level traces which are observed values inriver courses struck by this tsunami, scattering of reproducibility
according to the river was found, revealing that the analysis methodshould be improved.
But it is not necessarily enough to reflect a tsunami runup
phenomenon of such scale in the analysis method, so it is a situationin which the method will not be easily improved. To obtain such anunderstanding, a study was conducting using various types of data
concerning the tsunami observed on the site, but it could not provide
an adequate understanding of the phenomena.

So the large hydraulic model experiment was conducted to deepen
understanding of river tsunami runup phenomena. The experiment
reproduced a range of approximately 10km by 11 km of thetopography around the mouth of the Shinkitakamigawa River with a
30m long by 35m wide horizontal water tank at a scale of 1/330(photo). The experiment varied the scale of the tsunami, river course
shape, and state of ground cover, analyzing their impact on the waterlevel, flow velocity etc. of the runup of the tsunami.
Flood channel
River levee

Coastline dike

ShoalKitakamigawa RiverRiver mouth
sand barWav
mae -machi k inne gOppa Bay

Details * Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster Report Committee
̶Two Years from the Earthquake Disaster̶Presentation documents: Tsunami Countermeasures for River Levees
http://www.nilim.go.jp/lab/bbg/saigai/h23tohoku/houkoku3/
happyou/130319-08.pdf

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■ Publication of “Guideline for Tsunami-Resistant Design of Breakwaters”
Port and Harbor Department, Port Facilities Division
The “Guideline for Tsunami-Resistant Design of Breakwaters”,
which summarized basic concepts for the design of toughbreakwaters resistant to tsunami was announced in January 2013.

results of surveys of damage to breakwaters caused by the tsunami
triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake and the results of aseries of hydraulic model experiments conducted after theearthquake disaster, to organize basic concepts for the study of
tough breakwaters and announced their ﬁndings as the Guideline(January 2013).

The Great East Japan Earthquake damaged many breakwaters in
ports and harbors. The major causes are presumed to be the powerful
horizontal force of tsunami acting on them, and their destabilizationby the scouring of foundation mounds behind the breakwaters by theDetails * “Guideline for Tsunami-Resistant Design of Breakwaters”
tsunami as it overﬂowed them.
web siteIf breakwaters were “tough structures” which do not collapse even
http://www.mlit.go.jp/kowan/kowan_tk5_000018.html
when deformed by a large-scale tsunami, damage behind breakwaters
would be reduced by, for example, holding down the quantity
Example of a countermeasure to realize a tough breakwater→ Breakwater which effectively reduces damage caused by a tsunami largerof tsunami overﬂowing behind the breakwaters, delaying thein scale than the design tsunami
time it strikes the ground behind them. So breakwaters【Modifications of the crest shape】【Installing covering blocks】
No modifications madeshould be tough structures that will be as resistant as possible
to overturning by a tsunami exceeding the scale of the design
Breakwatertsunami.
Scouring
Foundation mound
Under these circumstances the Ports and Harbors Bureau
Foundation moundof the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport andTourism has, in cooperation with the National Institute for【Installing a scouring prevention mat】
Land and Infrastructure Management and the Port and【Installing thickening works】
Airport Research Institute, comprehensively studied theExample of a countermeasure to realize a tough breakwater■ Developing the wall face running external wall diagnosis system
Housing Department, Housing Stock Division
The NILIM has built a prototype of a Wall Face Running
External Wall Diagnosis System (Photo) that diagnoses spalling oftiles etc. as it travels vertically upwards and downwards on theexternal walls of residential and commercial buildings, and has
conducted proving tests of this system.
The device is 1m long, 85cm wide, and weighs about 17kg, and it
has three legs which adsorb it to the wall surface. These legs include
two legs with adsorption surfaces of 45cm×20cm and one leg withan adsorption surfaceof 77cm×20cm.
A vacuum pump installed on the device(almost identical topumps installed in ordinary household vacuum cleaners) permits
the device to move
while adsorbed to thewall surface. The device moves on the wall
surface by ascending
and descending like an
inchworm as it alternately moves its two

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small legs attached at the top and bottom of the device (45cm×20cm)
then the single leg in the center of the device (77cm×20cm). And thedevice not only moves vertically; it can also move horizontally, sothat it can work continually without it being necessary for a person totake if off and shift it sideways.
The device diagnoses the external wall using a hammering device
attached to its front end. It strikes the wall surface with a metal
weight, and a PC installed on the device analyzes the hammeringsound to judge if a tile has spalled or is sound. It is reported that aperson performing manual diagnoses can normally diagnose between
10 and 20m2 per hour, and to develop this device, the device travelingspeed or analysis method were studied in order that the quantity ofwork would be almost identical.
Using this prototype, we have confirmed that it ensures wall
adsorption capability as effective as planned, but a challenge which
remains to be overcome is the take countermeasures to deal withnoise as it travels. In the future, improvements will be made toprepare for its practical application by adding technology to reducenoise during travel and improve the precision of the diagnosis and toverify its performance on actual buildings.
Details * The prototype of the building wall face self-propelled
traveling external wall diagnosis system
http://www.nilim.go.jp/lab/ieg/gaiheki201303.pdf

■ Revising data exchange standards of road centerline and data for as-build measurement

utilizing total station system

Research Center for Advanced Information Technology, Information Technology Division
The following introduces the purposes, outlines, and recent
revisions of two standards applied in April 2013.
The Japanese Geodetic Datum 2011 (JGD 2011) has been added tothe public survey geodetic datum with earthquake deformation of theGreat East Japan Earthquake. Therefore, the data exchange standardsof road centerline and data exchange standards of data for as-build
measurement utilizing TS (total station system) has been revised sothat they can be selected for the JGD 2011 as a coordinate referencesystem.
Road centerline data can make various works more efficientbecause they can be reused without modification at the construction
and maintenance stages. The data exchange standard of roadcenterline is the standard format for electronic deliveries made toreuse road centerline data. As a specific example of use, this data
format is used to create data for as-build measurement utilizing TS at
the construction stage.
For as-build measurement utilizing TS, three soft-wares forcreating data, as-build measurement, and creating as-build ledger

Designsheets are needed. The data exchange standard of data for as-build
measurement utilizing TS is the standard format for electronicdeliveries made to smooth the exchange of data between thesesoftwares and to ensure traceability of as-build results. They are now
applied to earthwork and pavement work.
And, as-build measurement utilizing TS has been used in principle
for earthwork of 10,000m3 or higher in national government
construction works since April.
In the future, we will advance the data circulation and utilization ofdata, for improving efficiency of works and ensuring quality.
Details *Data exchange standard of road centerline (Draft) Ver. 1.1.
http://www.cals-ed.go.jp/cri_otherdoc/
Data exchange standard of data for as-build measurement utilizing
total station system (Draft) Ver. 4.1
http://www.nilim.go.jp/ts/info_exchange.html

Construction

Road centerline

Centerline usedwithout modification

Cross-section drawing

Data for as-build
measurement utilizing TS

Cross-section drawing used with revision(to reflect results of work surveying etc.)● Publication (research achievements) < February to April 2013 >Download from here: * http://www.nilim.go.jp/lab/bcg/siryou/index.htm

RESEARCH REPORT of NILIM
No.

Title of Paper

Names of Divisions51

Sequential monitoring of quantity of colored macro plastic debris using a newtechnique for detecting pixels of plastic debris from webcam images

Coastal Zone Systems Division

52

Emergency Responses and Engineering Contributions by NILIM for the Recovery
from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake

National Institute for Land andInfrastructure Management

PROJECT RESEARCH REPORT of NILIM
No.

Title of Paper

Project Leaders

38

Research on River and Coast Management in response to Climate Changes

Director of River Department

41

Study on developing smarter mobility technology in the second stage ITS

Director of Research Center for
Advanced Information Technology3

● Publication (research achievements) < February to April 2013 > (to be continued)
Download from here: * http://www.nilim.go.jp/lab/bcg/siryou/index.htm

TECHNICAL NOTE of NILIM
No.

Title of Paper

Names of Divisions

673 Practical Guide on Requirement for Structural Design of Tsunami Evacuation
Buildings

Standards and Accreditation SystemDivision

700 Technical Note on Seismic Retrofit Design of Existing Bridges

Bridge and Structures Division

703 Report on Field Surveys and Subsequent Investigations of Building Damage
Following the May 6, 2012 Tornado in Tsukuba City, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan

Building Department, Research Centerfor Land and Construction Management

704 Annual Report of Road-related Research in FY 2011

Road Department,Research Center for
Advanced Information Technology

705 Report of Tokyo Bay Symposium (12th: Toward Integrated Bay Renaissance)

Research Coordinator for Coastal andMarine Affairs

706 Record of habitat creation project at Shibaura Island, Tokyo, Japan

Marine Environment Division

707 A Basic Analysis on Main Characteristics of Maritime Transport by International
Ferry and RORO ship

Port Planning Division

708 A Study on Transport Mode Choice of Domestic Maritime Unit Load Cargo
Transportation in View of Countermeasures against Global Warming

Port Systems Division

709 Study on the Flow of Japanese Long-Distance Passengers Focusing on Rail and Air

Airport Planning Division

710 The damage evaluation technique from the point appearance for the highway
steel bridge heat affected by a fireBridge and Structures Division

711 Technical data for Countermeasure of salt damage on concrete bridge (The third survey) Bridge and Structures Division- examination about countermeasure of salt damage to concrete bridge based on
result of close visual inspection 712 Technical Standards for River Works: Practical Guidelines for Methods ofInvestigation, and its Reference materials, June FY2012

River Department, Research Centerfor Disaster Risk Management，
Environment Department

713 Joint Research Report on Distribution of Location Information about EV/PHV
Charger Facility

Information Technology Division

714 Environment Impact Assessment Technique for Road Project（Edition of FY 2012） Road Environment Division，Landscape and Ecology Division
720 The Technical Reference on Environment Impact Assessment Technique for Road
Project Fauna, Flora and Ecosystem on 1. Planning Stage Consideration Items

Road Environment Division ，Landscape and Ecology Division

721 The Technical Reference on Environment Impact Assessment Technique for Road Project Landscape and Ecology Division
Examples of Environmental Conservation Measures on 13. Fauna, Flora, and Ecosystem
722 Manual of the slope revegetation method for conservation of regional ecosystem Landscape and Ecology Division
723 The Handbook for the Historic Preservation

Landscape and Ecology Division

724 Report of the 1st Evaluation Committee of NILIM in FY 2012

Research Administration andEvaluation Division

725 Landscape and Ecology Division, Annual Research Report (27th)Landscape and Ecology Division

726 Strong-Motion Records from the 2011 Off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake Earthquake Disaster Prevention Division● We provide you with research information.
・2013 Annual Report of NILIM NEW
This web site introduces NILIM activities throughout the year, including research activities and achievements,future initiatives, etc.
Go to this web site: * http://www.nilim.go.jp/english/annual/annual2013/ar2013e.html
National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
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
Spring 2013
TEL:+81-29-864-2754 FAX:+81-29-864-4322
http://www.nilim.go.jp/english/eindex.htm
Edited and Published by National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management

No.44

国 総 研 ニ ューズ レ ター

NILIM News Letter