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2019 Tanaka Awards

1. Yokohama-kohoku Junction

  

  • Metropolitan Expressway Co., Ltd.

Yokohama-kohoku Junction connects Yokohama Northwest Line, Yokohama North Line, and Daisan-Keihin Road. It enables drivers to access all directions. The site is narrow, surrounded by the pre-existing expressway and other streets. The junction mainly consists of double-deck viaducts, whose compact structures made it possible to construct helped the installation smoothly. Yokohama-kohoku Junction also locates in the middle of heavy traffic roads. To minimize the impact on the pre-existing traffic, a 1,350t crawler crane was utilized to build a long-span component at once. The success of construction under severe circumstances contributes to the future development of the bridge technology, and it deserves the Japan Society of Civil Engineers Tanaka award.

2. KOMONODAINI VIADACT

   

  • Central Nippon Expressway Ltd. Nagoya Branch Office
  • Nippon Structural Bridge Institute Ltd.
  • Oriental Consultants Ltd.
  • P.S. Mitsubishi Construction Ltd.
  • Fuji P.S. Construction Ltd.
  • Mitsui Sumitomo Construction Ltd
  • Fujita Ltd.

The KOMONODAINI VIADUCT consists of three bridges, one with a PRC3 span continuous Extradosed box girder at the river crossing and the other with a PRC5 span continuous box girder and a PRC11 span continuous box girder before and after it. It is a continuous viaduct with a bridge length of 1,103 m. The superstructure at the river crossing has a center span of 161m, and the External PC cables are arranged in a row in an oblique direction. It has the largest span length in Japan. This bridge has solved a variety of technical issues, including consideration of the surrounding environment in bridge construction, performance verification for longer life, improvement of productivity, and consideration for maintenance.

3. MAMEDANI OHASHI BRIDGE

   

  • Toga Dam Consruction Office, Hokurikku Regional Develpment Bureau, Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Transport
  • Shin-Kozogijyutu Co., Ltd.
  • Saitou Gumi Co., Ltd.
  • Etsuhi Kensetsu Co., Ltd.
  • Yonekura Gumi Co., Ltd.
  • Okabe Co., Ltd.
  • Yada Industry, Co., Ltd.
  • Kawada Industries, Inc.

Mamedani-Ohashi Bridge is a steel half-through arch bridge with arch span length of 210m. Since the bridge was built in a narrow valley in the mountainous area, it was difficult to apply a general cable erection method. Therefore, different erection methods were adopted for each structural part. An asymmetric arch was adopted to harmonize with the surrounding landscape. In addition, transverse struts connecting the arch ribs were not arranged in order to prevent snowfall. This bridge was constructed using the best of bridge technology, and it can contribute significantly to the development of bridge technology, and deserves the Japan Society of Civil Engineers Tanaka award.

4. Myaung Mya Bridge

   

  • Ministry of Construction, The Republic of the Union of Myanmar
  • J&M Steel Solutions Co., Ltd.

Myaung Mya Bridge was constructed in place of the suspension bridge that collapsed in April 2018. This bridge has the longest truss span length 140m in Myanmar. The bridge was constructed with creative solutions to meet the demand for completion within a year. A steel truss bridge was adopted as the bridge type in order to achieve completion in a short construction period. It became possible to avoid installing temporary bents in rivers by adopting the cantilever construction method of the center span using the side span as a counterweight. As a result, the bridge could become a symbol of friendship between Myanmar and Japan. This bridge was constructed using the best of bridge technology, and it can contribute significantly to the development of bridge technology, and deserves the Japan Society of Civil Engineers Tanaka award.

5. Tottori Castle Ruins, Giboshi-Bridge

   

  • Cultural Properties Division, Tottori City Board of Education
  • Japan Cultural Heritage Consultancy
  • NIPPON ENGINEERING CONSULTANTS CO., LTD.
  • Kanebako Structural Engineers
  • TODA CORPORATION
  • Narasaki Seisakusyo Co., Ltd.

Giboshi-Bashi is a reconstruction of the wooden bridge in front of the main gate of Tottori Castle, a national historic site. (length 37m, width 6m) The bridge, which was first built in 1621 and existed until 1897 after several replacements, is a model of the restoration. 69 bridge piers of three generations were found at the bottom of the moat, and these were required to be preserved as cultural assets as a national historic site. As a solution, grid-shaped beams made of duplex stainless steel were installed in the water to avoid interference with them. It was used as the foundation of the restored wooden bridge. Using advanced technology and traditional wooden techniques, this bridge has become a source of pride for the local people.

6. Widening Construction of KIRIGATAKI BRIDGE

   

  • Central Nippon Expressway Ltd. Nagoya Branch Office
  • Nippon Structural Bridge Institute Ltd.
  • Mitsui-Sumitomo Construction Ltd.

KIRIGATAKI BRIDGE is a continuous PC ramen box girder bridge with a maximum span of 109 m and a maximum pier height of 65 m. This work was to widen the bridge while securing two in-service lanes on the heavy traffic route of the New-Tomei Expressway. The widening section is a floor slab with a standard overhang length of 4.7m (maximum 6.0m) and a 3.5m strut spacing. This construction, which adopts the design and construction technology that overcomes the restrictions on construction, has realized the widening of the overhanging slab of the PC box girder bridge in operation.

7. Seismic retrofit of a truss portion of the Hitsuishijima viaduct

   

  • Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Expressway Co., Ltd.
  • NIPPON ENGINEERING CONSULTANTS CO., LTD.
  • Yokogawa Bridge Corporation
  • Shikoku Railway Company

A truss portion of the Hitsuishijima viaduct is a highway-railway combined bridge with a span length of 100 m and its superstructure weight of 3,700 t. In order to minimize retrofit work volume over the railway tracks, the isolation of truss girder was selected, which is unprecedented technique for highway-railway combined bridges in Japan. For the truss girder isolation, the constraining effect of long rail and the running safety of train were studied. In addition, the isolation rubber bearings were adopted with a knock-off mechanism to minimize the influence on utility facilities on the girder in transverse direction during L1 earthquake. This bridge was retrofitted with one of the best bridge technologies. It can significantly contribute to the development of seismic retrofit technology for railway bridges as well as highway-railway combined bridges. This surely deserves the Japan Society of Civil Engineers “Tanaka Award”.

8. OTSUCHI-GAWA RIVER BRIDGE

   

  • East Japan Railway Company
  • Sanriku Railway
  • East Japan Railway Company, Tohoku Construction Office
  • JR East Consultants Company
  • TEKKEN Corporation

JR Yamada Line* was destroyed by the TSUNAMI of Great East Japan Earthquake, 2011. Early restoration of the line was required and it depended on shortening reconstruction period of the Otsuchi-gawa River Bridge. (Length 375m, 23girders) It was achieved with two solutions as follow. The first is to reuse the steel girders which were swept away. The repair of girders were performed by heating and pressing appropriately to prevent cracking, and harmful salt were removed completely. The second is to reconstruct the piers with the remaining part. 24 piers were categorized into three methods depended on their damage status and repaired. These solutions are expected to contribute to develop the technology of bridge construction, are worthy of the Japan Society of Civil Engineers Tanaka award. Note: The operation of the line was transferred from JR East to Sanriku Railway on 23rd March 2019, and its facilities were transferred to local governments.

9. Screw Pile

   

  • Japanese Technical Association for Steel Pipe Piles and Sheet Piles
  • Nippon Steel Corporation
  • JFE Steel Corporation
  • Public Works Research Institute

Screw piles developed by Nippon Steel Corporation and JFE Steel Corporation are steel pipe piles with helical blades welded to the pile edges. Screw pile is wound into the ground much like a screw into wood. Placement of large screw piles can be performed with the rotary all casing boring machine in general use. Screw piles have various features such as: low noise and low vibration, no waste soil during construction, high end bearing capacity and pull-out resistance, proximity work in small areas or under height restrictions. Screw piles have been widely applied in foundations of bridges and other structures; therefore, screw piles deserve the Japan Society of Civil Engineers Tanaka award.

 

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