Disaster Prevention
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Japan is one of the world‘s most disaster-prone countries. Earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, floods and ground subsidence are some of the disaster risks the country faces. Moreover, a signifi cant portion of the country‘s infrastructure was built more than 50 years ago.
Preparing for natural disasters and extending the service life of infrastructure are essential for enabling people to live safely and peacefully; in fact, the Japanese government is promoting a “national resilience” policy aimed at these goals.
The Nippon Koei Group has operating bases in all 47 prefectures of Japan, and employs professionals in diverse fields such as geology, waterways, environmental protection and information technology. We mobilize these assets in carrying out projects for preventing and mitigating disasters and prolonging the life-span of infrastructure in order to build a society in which people can live with peace of mind.
Specific Measures
Amid rising concern over natural disasters, we have made disaster prevention and mitigation one of our strategic focal areas. Since it is difficult to completely prevent damage from natural disasters that occur without warning, it is important to determine how to limit and mitigate the extent of the damage.
The Nippon Koei Group implements both “hard” measures such as construction of check dams and slope stabilization, and “soft” measures such as promotion of resident warnings with alarm systems that employ sensors and other technologies.
Making effective use of limited budgets and manpower is becoming increasingly difficult just with the traditional “treat the symptoms” approach - in other words, fixing infrastructure when it breaks down.
In 2015, the Nippon Koei Group began an initiative in which we use the current condition of disaster prevention facilities and accumulated data to make recommendations to national and local authorities responsible for preventing landslides on what measures to take and when to take them. This allows authorities to continue maintaining the performance of disaster prevention facilities at the lowest possible cost. We have started work on extension of the service life and establishment of maintenance methods for disaster prevention facilities, including examination of suitable inspection and soundness evaluation methods, and development of new technologies.
