Jul 04, 2019

Hitachi Zosen Corporation has received an order from Hanshin Expressway Company Limited (Kita-ku, Osaka / President: Kazunori Yuki; hereafter, Hanshin Expressway Co.) for seismic retrofitting of the Hanshin Expressway No. 3 Kobe Line (2019-1-O).

This project will reinforce seismic resistance along an approximately 4 km section of the Hanshin Expressway No.3 Kobe Line, from Itachibori 4-chome, Nishi-ku, to Tsukuda 6-chome, Nishiyodogawa-ku, in Osaka. Hitachi Zosen, as the contracted company, will be responsible for connecting bridge girders with rubber-covered chains and PC cables, installing bearing reinforcements (horizontal load-bearing structures), widening piers and beams, and so on. This order was given in recognition of Hitachi Zosen's track record in seismic retrofitting work, its quality assurance system, and technical findings regarding its on-site construction and safety management.

Having learned its lesson from the damage caused by the Southern Hyogo Prefecture Earthquake (Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake), Hanshin Expressway Co. is working on seismic retrofitting for viaducts, and endeavoring to ensure safety from collapsing bridges through coming up with two scenarios: a plate boundary megathrust earthquake like the Tonankai or Nankai earthquake that is expected to hit in the near future, or an inland shallow earthquake like the Southern Hyogo Prefecture Earthquake.

Hitachi Zosen is engaged in a wide variety of design, manufacture, and construction (building) work, including major bridges and viaducts. In Osaka in particular, the company's original home, Hitachi Zosen has been largely responsible for some of the city's most famous major bridges, such as Minato Bridge, Tempozan Bridge, and Yumemai Bridge. In addition, the company has a rich track record in the field of seismic retrofitting work as well: the company recently won the Japan Society of Civil Engineers' Tanaka Award, the most prestigious award in the field of bridge and steel structure engineering, for its seismic retrofitting work for the Katashinagawa Bridge in Gunma Prefecture in 2016.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has announced that in 2028, 50% of the approximately 730,000 bridges in Japan will be more than fifty years old. Bridge maintenance, lifespan extension work, and seismic retrofitting are a national-level issue. However, Hitachi Zosen has 120 years of history as a bridge-builder, and will actively contribute to the development of a sustainable, robust nation with high quality infrastructure.

The outline of this project is as follows.