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I wish you all a very happy New Year, which may bring plethora of opportunities
to help you in producing next success stories.
The year of 2016 is thought to be a very important point of development, because it marks the 5th anniversary of 2011 Tohoku Earthquake. The damage caused by the gigantic earthquake of magnitude 9 on March 11th, 2011 followed by the savage tsunami is still fresh in the memories. It was due to the intensive efforts of civil and concrete engineers by whom the affected areas could be recovered. These efforts are very vital to ensure the protection of people in such incidents which may occur in future. But, not to forget, Japan is still recovering from that devastation and this is a kind of emergency time for Japanese society and engineers associated with construction industry.
The Concrete Committee of Japan Society of Civil Engineers has been steadfast and active in the recovery process and ensuring the protection of people in future. Again, I would like to direct my attention to some activities of the Committee during this time as,
* Investigations to determine the tsunami forces on bridges and the mechanism
of failure of bridges against these forces. Based upon these investigations,
a draft was proposed for the future design code for bridges against tsunami
generated forces.
* Effective use of debris from destroyed concrete structures for restoring
process. The reuse & recycling of concrete debris and the associated
codified guideline.
* The draft for the design of pre-stressed concrete tanks to contain radioactive
contaminated water.
Now, we are entering the second phase of restoration from Tohoku Earthquake.
It is the start of the next stage where we will be facing tough problems
to solve.
The year of 2016 is of importance as well because of the substantial step-forward for the revised Standard Specifications for Concrete Structures to which the Concrete Committee is fully responsible. Currently, we have separate specifications for design, construction and maintenance of concrete structures. As these three strongly affect each other, we would like to seek for the further consistency of these three different code specifications as an integrated technicality and the practical guide.
Finally, I would like to bring forth the need of upgrading productivity
of construction. Japan is moving towards an ageing society where rational
allocation of energy and time is crucial for maintenance of infrastructures
within the limited budget and resources. The Concrete Committee has started
to draft the recommendation for improved productivity jointly with industries
and official sectors.
I look forward to the collective efforts of engineers and scientists by
sharing the knowledge and experience. Let’s move together on the path of
success in the New Year 2016.
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