1. Kesennuma Bay Crossing Bridge

• Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Tohoku Regional Development Bureau Sendai River and National Highway Office
• Nippon Engineering Consultants Co., Ltd.
• CHODAI Co., Ltd.
• Kajima Corporation
• Toa Corporation
• Fudo Tetra Corporation
• MM Bridge Co., Ltd.
• Miyaji Engineering Co., Ltd.
• Kawada Industries, Inc.
• JFE Engineering Corporation
• IHI Infrastructure Systems Co., Ltd.
• Fab-Tec Japan  Co.
• Takada Kiko Co., Ltd.
• Yokogawa Bridge Corporation
• Sada Construction Co., Ltd

 Contributors of this project (Japanese)

MLIT led the development of the Reconstruction Road to rebuild areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake. The Kesennuma Road, part of the Sanriku Coastal Highway, runs through tsunami-damaged Kesennuma city. Early route information was shared, gathering opinions from local authorities and residents. The Kesennuma Bay Crossing Bridge, a steel cable stayed bridge was built where the road crosses the bay. Preliminary design began in March 2012, with wind tunnel tests and earthquake-resistant design in 2013, and detailed design in 2014. The bridge opened in March 2021, taking 9 years and 4 months from project start and 6 years and 7 months for construction.

2. The First Shirakawa Bridge of Minami-aso Railway

• Minami-aso Railway Co.,LTD.
• Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency
• MM BRIDGE CO., LTD.
• Yachiyo Engineering Co., Ltd.

 Contributors of this project (Japanese)

The First Shirakawa Bridge of Minami-aso Railway was completed in 1927 and severely damaged due to the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquakes. However, this bridge was rebuilt in response to the expectations for full restoration by the areas alongside. The design concept of the new bridge was not only to improve its seismic performance, but also to restore the beauty of the pre-disaster landscape by following the structural form. This bridge is important not only as a part of local transportation but also as a tourism resource for its beautiful scenery. Thus, it should be passed to generations as a symbol of the earthquake reconstruction.

3. YOSHINOGAWA SUNRISE BRIDGE

• West Nippon Expressway Co., Ltd.
• KAJIMA Co., Ltd. 
• Sumitomo Mitsui Construction Co., Ltd.
• TOYO Construction Co., Ltd.

 Contributors of this project (Japanese)

YOSHINOGAWA SUNRISE BRIDGE, a prestressed concrete (PC) continuous box girder bridge with a total length of 1696.5m, is one of Japan's longest road bridges.　It was designed and constructed carefully at the estuary of the Yoshino River, a home of a wide variety of species, so as not to disturb the natural balance in an ecosystem. The number of piers in the river was minimized to reduce environmental impact, and the length of the span in the river was stretched to 130 m.　The cantilever length is one of the longest in the world for a PC box girder using precast segments.

4. Large-scale renewal of the Yodogawa Ohashi Bridge

• Osaka National Highway Office, Kinki Regional Development Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
• Eight-Japan Engineering Consultants Inc.
• IHI Infrastructure Systems Co. Yokogawa NS Engineering Joint Venture

 Contributors of this project (Japanese)

The Yodogawa Ohashi Bridge, National Route 2, is an important arterial road connecting Osaka-Kobe. 
After 96 years in service, the bridge's load-bearing capacity had deteriorated due to aging. Therefore, a large-scale renewal work was carried out to replace the RC floor slabs with steel orthotropic deck and to repair many steel members. The use of steel slabs reduced the dead load of superstructure by 30%, and the required seismic performance was secured without reinforcing the piers and foundations.
This is a large-scale renewal under traffic service on an arterial road with extremely heavy traffic volume, and was recognized as worthy of the Tanaka Prize because of its contribution to the technological development of large-scale renewal, which is likely to increase in the future.
 

5. Cylinder-type viscous damper with unseating prevention function

• Metropolitan Expressway Co., Ltd.
• Yokogawa Bridge Corp. 
• OXJACK Co., Ltd. 

 Contributors of this project (Japanese)

Cylinder-type viscous damper with unseating prevention function is a new seismic performance improvement device that has both a seismic damper function and unseating prevention function developed to simplify and optimize around bearing structures on bridge piers and abutments to avoid complication and keep maintenance spaces. By installing the developed technology, it is possible to simplify and improve the efficiency of the seismic reinforcement structure installed around the bearings and reduce the cost of seismic reinforcement. In addition, by installing a newly developed universal clevis that rotates around two axes at both ends of the device, it is possible to ensure the omnidirectional movement required for unseating prevention structures.

Tanaka Awards

JSCE Awards Top