2021. 9.1

Japan Society of Civil Engineers
International Activities Center

IAC News No.107
Seventh Engineers’ Lounge “DOBOKU"The Professional Development and Education ProgramGroup of the International Activities Center regularly holds
the Engineers’ Lounge “DOBOKU” to help younger civilengineers understand overseas construction work, feelinteresting and have challenging mind. However, this time,
instead of introducing overseas infrastructure projects, wedecided to offer the opportunity to exchange information on
how the Japanese construction industry has been engaging
their projects in overseas civil engineering work under thesevere influence of the COVID-19 that has been prevailingmore than a year.
This time, we asked four panelists, Mr. Tokuro Asano(Obayashi Corporation), Mr. Yoshikazu Takahashi (NipponKoei Co., Ltd.), Mr. Masaaki Chida (Oriental Consultants
Global Co., Ltd.), and Mr. Akira Mito (ShimizuCorporation), to share the actual situations of overseas

Programprojects under the title of “Overseas Projects under COVID-19, ” and we had an online Q&A session with thelounge participants.
Mr. Asano showed sanitization policy and its practical application on site against COVID-19 for bridge
construction project in Bangladesh where more than 10000 persons/day found positive. Mr. Takahashi
introduced the project for improving agricultural incomes in Myanmar where people were facing two difficulties
at the same time, COVID-19 and political turmoil. Mr. Chida gave an example of a project for building up
robustness against cyclones in Mozambique. (This project case is introduced on the IAC News No.105:
https://committees.jsce.or.jp/kokusai/system/files/IAC_News_No.105%28Jp%29ver2.pdf.)
Mr. Mito explained the detailed applications against the first wave in the first half of the last fiscal year including
temporary evacuation of Japanese staff in abroad and resumption of construction work on site, the bridge projectin the suburbs of the capital city, and the hydroelectric power station project in remote mountainous areas also
were introduced.
In addition to temperature check and sanitization, there are on-site doctor’s diagnosis system, the provision of1

meals that would eliminate the need to go out from site camps, and preventive measures against pandemics,
such as periodic PCR tests for staff members. It was also introduced that many companies prepared emergency
evacuation by air. Regarding remote site management utilizing various IT tools, effective use is expected evenafter the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, and there is information that communication by chat apps is effective
even when there are deficiency and/or restrictions on telephone line connections.
Stronger measures are often taken in many countries based on the local laws and regulations in comparison withthe state of emergency in Japan. However, even in a lockdown state, no employers in any country issued
suspension orders. In this regard, the sincere response and attitude of Japanese companies continuing the projects
even under COVID-19, surprised the participants.
In many cases, cost and time claims associated with interruptions or productivity reductions due to COVID-19
cannot be fairly evaluated soon because there are no guidelines for dealing with pandemics. However, in mostcases, it is difficult to get smooth approval for cost claims due as interruptions or stand-by costs, although theconstruction period may be extended. Thus, information exchange seems to be important for future disputes tobe resolved.
The Participants in the lounge asked questions about the situation of companies from other countries. Then thepanelist said that in Africa there were many construction projects that were fully suspended because many
European companies returned to their home countries so that some employer tended to expect more to Japanesecompanies.
There was also a fundamental question, “Although the risks in overseas business seems to be increasing,including the pandemic like COVID-19, how can we maintain the motivation of people who want to workabroad?” The panelists expressed the following opinions: “Appreciations in restoration projects lead tomotivation by themselves” and “It is wrong to worry too much just because of overseas projects, and to believe
total safety just because of Japan domestic projects, so we will try to establish a firm security system even foroverseas projects.” We need to consider serious measures for risks related to overseas business.
This event, Engineers’ Lounge “DOBOKU,” has been held on-line since the last two times, enabling theexchange of information to and from more engineers even in far distance. We will expand the use of this on-line
system by incorporating the opinions from many JSCE members.

【Reported by Hidemi Yanagi, Professional Development and Education Program Group, IAC】

2

First Phase of Construction of the Improvement Plan for
the Tema Intersection in Ghana
The first phase of the improvement plan for the Tema Intersection in Ghana was theraised construction of the Tema Intersection that sees the coming together of the“Lagos-Abidjan Corridor”, which is an international corridor for logistics that supports
economic growth in Ghana, and the “Eastern Corridor” from Ghana’s largest port, theTema Port. The Tema Intersection before the start of construction was a five-way
intersection where the roads from the city of Tema merged together. The intersection
was subject to a lot of traffic and chronic congestion and this meant it became a Yujin Uemura
bottleneck that hindered the smooth international logistic operations of African (SHIMIZUCORPORATION)
countries including Ghana. This construction, which was carried out with grant aid
from the Japanese government, is the number one project of the Ministry of Roads and Highways (MRH) inGhana. The first bid was held in 2017, and the joint venture of Shimizu Corporation and Dai Nippon
Construction Co., Ltd. was awarded the contract, with construction starting in February 2018. From around
March 2020, when the construction was about to be completed, the number of people infected with the novel
coronavirus increased in Ghana, and construction efforts became extremely difficult due to numerous
restrictions such as the closing of the border and the government imposing restrictions on going outside. Under
such difficult circumstances, the construction was, while waving the flag for economic development in Ghana,completed without a single infected individual, with staff and workers pulling together to prevent the pandemic
from spreading. At the opening ceremony held on June 5, 2020, the president of Ghana praised the opening of
the new Tema Intersection, saying that it will free local residents and road users from the inconvenience oftraffic congestion.
This construction project is a road improvement project stretching one kilometer from the north, south, east, andwest of the intersection, and the main types of work involved are paving work (area: 141,394 m2), box culvert
work (extension: 190 m), pedestrian bridge work (4 locations), and other related road construction work (1 set).
In undertaking the construction, the following three themes were raised: (1) The utilizing of resources (staff andmaterials) in Ghana, (2) the training of staff in Ghana (training staff through the transfer of skills, etc.), and (3)the utilizing of new technology (ICT technology, CIM). The main achievements of this construction are that it
improved productivity by (1) creating about 200,000 jobs in total (up to 600 people/day), (2) implementing
training sessions on the quality of concrete manufacturing and placement as well as experience-based safety
training on-site, and (3) improving the understanding of local staff by making use of CIM.
Following the success of the first phase of construction, a second phase of construction is also being planned,
and grant aid will be given following on from the first phase of construction. Furthermore, a road development
plan around the intersection has been announced, and it is predicted that the urban expressway network from
Tema City to the suburbs of the capital Accra will be enhanced in the years to come. It is expected that local
engineers who reached new heights through the first phase of construction and students from the University ofGhana who were taken on as interns to gain experience at the worksite will thrive in these future projects for thedevelopment of Ghana.

3Full View of the Tema Intersection in Ghana【Reported by Yujin Uemura & Akira Mito (SHIMIZU CORPORATION)】

Diversity and Inclusion Promotion Committee
Diversity as a Keyword
Over the past years, we have heard the word “diversity” more than ever in Japan. The
prevailing of the word may indicate the awareness that our society needs to do moreto address issues such as the very low international ranking of the Gender Gap Index.
The Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE) has been working on gender equality
and D&I issues, starting as a special research subcommittee in 2004. It is the Diversity
and Inclusion Promotion Committee or D&I Committee today. We would like tointroduce one of the ongoing activities, D&I Cafétalk, part of the D&I 2.0 Initiative
Yoh Sasaki(Chair of D&I Committee)of the selected JSCE 2020-2024 Project.
D&I Cafétalk

“Diverse ways of working and living are around you. Let’s talk about them.” The 30 minute online talk program
starts with this phrase every other Friday evening that began in March 2021. It covers various topics such as
working styles, career development, studying and working abroad, and language barriers. The guests share theirown experiences with the anchors in a relatively casual format. Each time we receive comments from thelisteners that they have gained various insights and broadened their perspectives. The archives are available on“JSCEtv”, please take a look at it.

4This program aims to talk about, listen to, accept, and think
about D & I as each individual’s issue, related tocircumstances, ideas, and choices, rather than as a social
requirement or a theoretical one. We hope that diversity,
which we often perceive as visible attributes such as genderand nationality, becomes inextricably linked to respect forindividual value.
Flyer for the D&I Cafétalk with Dr. Ji Dang

On a Chair of Your Choice
The information about D&I Cafétalk is disseminatedthrough the website and SNS, with the illustrations ofvarious chairs. Those chairs represent every uniquestakeholder. The program secures the atmosphere for thelisteners to place a favorite chair in their preferred positions,listens flatly to the topics, and freely express their thoughts.
While valuing empathy for others, the D&I Committee istrying to think about D&I in the diverse world of civil

Background Image with Various Chairs

engineers. We invite every JSCE member to think together
about D&I as a personal matter.

【Reported by Yoh Sasaki, Chair of D&I Committee, JSCE (Professor, Waseda University)】

5Updates◆FY2021 JSCE Annual Meeting International Program
https://www.jsce-int.org/node/729◆【TC21】How Covid-19 Affected Trans-Disciplinary Approach(TDA) and Decision Making on Building
Disaster Resilience? (September 6, 13:00 – 15:00 (JST))
https://www.jsce-int.org/node/731◆【D&I Committee】Open the door wide and bring diverse perspectives into the civil engineering community!
(September 7, 10:00 - 12:00 (JST))
https://vimeo.com/592489127/8a759e17d3◆JSCE-Faculty of Engineering, Kasetsart University Online Joint
Seminar (September 28)
https://www.jsce-int.org/node/730◆【YouTube】2nd JSCE Concrete Committee Webinar "Frontiers ofConcrete Technology"
Aging Management of Concrete Structures in Nuclear Power Plants Internal swelling reaction of concrete – (August 4)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArU-x-oyGig
・【YouTube】1st JSCE Concrete Committee Webinar"Frontiers of Concrete Technology"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IP65Dudd6tk◆The 17th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering (17WCEE)
http://www.17wcee.jp/index.html

FY2021 International Roundtable
Meeting “Changing Society andFuture Infrastructure”（https://www.jsce-int.org/node/729）◆American Society of Civil Engineers（ASCE）
・ASCE Lifeline Conference 2021 2022
Dates updated: Jan 31-Feb 4, 2022
https://samueli.ucla.edu/lifelines2021/
・International Conference on Sustainable Infrastructure（December, 2021）
http://app.message.asce.org/e/es?s=1360&e=713080&elqTrackId=f2b02296aa9c4f699603ed9d506586f4&el
q=5dbc17091cf64c9faaaae1d65ba9cab2&elqaid=26738&elqat=1◆The International Infrastructure Archives– A Compilation of Japan’s Greatest Projects in Transfer of Civil Engineering Technology in Service –http://www.jsce.or.jp/e/archive/◆IAC YouTube Channel
https://youtube.com/channel/UCGIs6DHrzX_cGD-mHUrRlkA◆9th International Conference on Experimental Vibration Analysis for Civil Engineering Structures(EVACES2021)
https://ec-intl.co.jp/evaces2021/◆IAC “News Pick Up!!” on the JSCE Japanese website
https://committees.jsce.or.jp/kokusai/iac_dayori_2021◆Summary of featured articles in JSCE Magazine Vol. 106, No.9 September 2021
http://www.jsce-int.org/pub/magazine◆Journal of JSCE
https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/journalofjsce§ IAC News Subscription §The IAC News is one of the communication tools to share information and 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.
§ IAC Facebook §Recent activity of International Activities Center is introduced on this Facebook. Please see this home page(https://www.facebook.com/JSCE.en).
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

6