IAC News

JSCE IAC US Group held the meeting to report the American Society of Civil Engineers’ annual conference held in Panama in October 2014 at the auditorium in the JSCE HQ on April 2 2015. In that meeting, the US Group talked about that annual conference, showed the DVD on the civil engineer Akira Aoyama who worked on the Panama Canal construction 100 year ago and had a special lecture with Emeritus Prof. Yutaka Takahashi as a speaker.

Also the US Group displayed Akira Aoyama’s photos, drawings and memorabilia on tables and stands which were placed around that auditorium so that the audience could see them and imagine the environment in which Akira worked on the Panama Canal construction. Akira’s handwritten drawings were very clean and sophisticated so that the audience seemed not to believe that those had been produced by human hands.

Prof. Masahiko Isobe the JSCE President delivered an opening speech, followed by the US Group members’ reports on the ASCE’s annual conference and the Mini General Session which the ASCE had set for the US Group to make a presentation, and a field trip to the Panama Canal. The US Group told that Prof. Isobe discussed Akira’s achievements and contribution to the construction of the Panama Canal and later his contribution to the development of infrastructure in Japan at the Mini General Session. That group referred to the responses of the audience who had been moved by the Japanese civil engineer who had traveled alone to Panama and joined the construction, following his dreams and motto “Do your best to leave the world better than you found it,” and who had appreciated Prof. Isobe’s discussion, making the commnent “a beautiful presentation” with a big hand.

Then, Emeritus Prof. Yutaka Takahashi of the University of Tokyo took a podium and delivered a speech. He portrayed Akira Aoyama as a civil engineer with anecdotes explaining the Japanese society in those days, including his meeting with Mr. Aoyama. His talk was very informative and interesting so that it held the audience’s attention all through.

After his talk, the US group played the DVD on Akira Aoyama’s Achievements on Panama Canal Project which had been shown along with the presentation of Prof. Isobe at the Mini General Session. Many of members of audience made comments and ask questions to the speakers at the Q & A session set at the end of the meeting. When Dr. Ohnishi closed the meeting, it was about 30 minutes after the scheduled ending time.

【Mr. Hisanari Ushirooka member of the IAC Information Networking Group】
 

The seminar on “Present and Future Road Infrastructure Maintenance in Vietnam and Japan” was held National University of Civil Engineering (NUCE) on March 17, 2015, co-organized by NUCE, the University of Tokyo, Hokkaido University and Japan Society of Civil engineers (JSCE). The CJV staff members and those co-organizers made a significant contribution to the success of seminar. Remarkable results and photos were recorded at this Seminar.

There were 150 participants from Ministry of Transport (MOT), Ministry of Construction (MOC), agencies, PMU, Japanese and Vietnamese construction companies, prestigious universities in Japan and Viet Nam, international and Vietnamese leading experts in the field of road maintenance.

Speaking at the seminar, Assoc. Prof. Pham Duy Hoa, Rector of NUCE noted that Japan is one of the most important partners of Viet Nam in the field of transport infrastructure development. Numerous large and important projects have been implemented efficiently with the help and cooperation of Japan. In recent years, NUCE cooperated with Japanese partners in the exchange of experience, advanced construction technologies applying in Viet Nam. So far, Japan has been involved many big projects of civil construction, infrastructure and urban transport in Viet Nam. This seminar is a scientific forum for Vietnamese and Japanese experts to exchange knowledge and experience on the involved topic.

According to Prof. Hiroshi Yokota, University of Hokkaido, Japan is honored to share its experience in the field of road maintenance system for Viet Nam as well as other countries. In the coming time, Japan will focus on Viet Nam via SIP project and he also hopes to strengthen the cooperation between Vietnam and Japan.

According to Assoc. Prof. Kohei Nagai the University of Tokyo, this seminar is the 2nd SIP (Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Program) international seminar on Infrastructure Asset Management funded by Cabinet Office of Japan. Title of the research project is a comprehensive research on development of road infrastructure management cycle and its application in Japan and abroad. The project term is from October 2014 to March 2019.

The presentations were delivered on the following topics:
1)Standard specifications for maintenance and repair of concrete structures;
2)Deteriorations of road infrastructures in Japan;
3)Vietnam Road management;
4)Education program for maintenance expert in Gifu;
5)Durable repair of concrete structures considering re-deterioration;
6)Opportunities for enhancing management and maintenance of road infrastructure in Vietnam;
7)Overview of bridge maintenance of NEXCO;
8)Standards for inspection maintenance and repair of concrete structures.
 

At the seminar, there were lots of discussion and exchange between speakers and attendees for better understanding of the raised topics. Many questions posed by Vietnamese experts were fully responded by Japanese experts.

The Seminar on “Present and future road infrastructure maintenance in Vietnam and Japan” has been successfully organized with good results. It is the prerequisite to create a cooperative network for promoting the research and technology transfer in the field of road inspection, maintenance and repair ensuring the success of SIP project in Viet Nam. The Seminar and its activities were reported on Hanoi Television as well.

Through a number of presented topics, the seminar was a scientific forum for experts from Japan and Vietnam to share their experiences and discuss research proposals to find out suitable solutions for the development of Vietnam's infrastructure.

【Dr. Nguyen Hoang Giang, Director of CJV】

Group photo of the Speakers

Participants at seminar