July 2024 Vol. 79 No. 7
Features
Japan plans to accelerate underground construction activities
By Eugene Gerden, Contributing Editor
Japan plans to accelerate its underground construction activities in years to come, paying a particular focus to the renewal of aging infrastructure, while enhancing its disaster response capabilities and reducing construction costs.
Due to its archipelago geography, an elevated level of a seismic threat and adverse soil conditions, the construction of most types of underground infrastructure has been traditionally associated with huge costs in Japan. In addition, the level of energy development, especially gas networks, is lower than in the majority of other developed nations.
Japan's utilization of natural gas, so far, has been at the lowest level among developed countries. A major reason is the high cost of constructing domestic trunk pipelines in the country’s difficult terrain. Almost the same situation was observed in other types of underground infrastructure, including pipes/conduits for sewer, water, stormwater, electric distribution/transmission and telecom – many of which are faced with the expiration of service life.
Still, there is a possibility such a situation will change, which is mainly due to the existing plans of the Japanese central government and regional authorities to conduct the renewal of the country’s underground energy infrastructure. Due to its rapid infrastructure aging, the country has recently faced an increased number of accidents.
Growing problems
According to official data from the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the number of such accidents has grown by a factor of three times in the last 10 years, with the most complex situations in water and gas pipelines.
As a rule, the service life of water supply infrastructure in Japan typically spans 40 years, while sewer systems can be effective for 50 years. As of now, a significant part of the Japanese water and wastewater infrastructure has almost reached these figures, being in acute need of renewal.
There are also significant plans being developed for gas transmission and distribution infrastructure in the country. The emphasis on opening up a domestic gas pipelines sector in recent years has become a priority for the Japanese government. Efforts are being made to stimulate new gas and other pipelines throughout the country and increase the share of gas in the overall energy structure of Japan. Given its geographical position, most of Japan’s gas imports (almost 100 percent) consists of LNG coming into the country through 35 LNG import terminals. Australia is the largest supplier of LNG to Japan.
Since the beginning of 2020s, the Japanese government has been implementing a policy of diversification of its energy supplies, which involves development of a domestic gas transmission system. Japan has no single gas transmission system operator. All local gas networks have developed separately, usually being built close to LNG terminals, and are often not connected to each other.
As a rule, each gas company ensures its supply in its distribution area. Such structure, where all customers including households can also choose their utilities (suppliers), became the result of deregulation and liberalization policies, implemented by the Japanese government beginning in the 1990s.
In addition to a traditionally high level of seismic threat, in recent years Japan has faced heavy rains and floods, which have even led to serious disasters in various parts of the country, including the capital, Tokyo.
Tunnel solution
In order to prevent floods, a number of projects for the building of necessary underground infrastructure are currently being implemented in Japan. Perhaps, the largest project is currently underway in Tokyo, where the metropolitan government is constructing a new underground tunnel in the Suginami Ward area. It will temporarily store water from a tributary of the Kanda River and prevent floods due to heavy rains.
The tunnel will have a capacity of 300,000 cubic meters and will be excavated to more than 130 feet deep (40 meters). It will have an inner diameter of almost 30 feet (9 meters) and a total length of 3.6 miles (5.8 kilometers). The project is expected to be completed during the 2030s.
According to analysts’ estimates, the volume of investments in the project may reach US $5 billion. In order to reduce costs for this and other similar projects, various technological innovations in construction methods are currently being developed. As Japanese state experts believe, if successful, they could speed implementation of these projects and create conditions for more active development of the Japanese underground energy infrastructure.
The Japanese central government has also taken measures for the development of the sector, while ensuring its better efficiency. That also takes place through the more active introduction of innovative technologies.
For example, at the end of 2023, the government approved building a common system that can aggregate information on underground infrastructure, including water pipes and gas pipes in urban areas and provide it as three-dimensional (3D) data. The aim is to solve the problem of the difficulty in understanding underground conditions among different project managers.
The system began operation in the Kanto region – which primarily consists of Honshu, the largest island of Japan and one of its most developed areas of the country. Plans are to complete this program in 2024 and gradually expand nationwide.
According to the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, successful introduction of the new system is expected to speed up construction works, and will also help prevent accidents by allowing construction workers to proceed while checking 3D maps onsite. Even if underground infrastructure is damaged due to a disaster such as an earthquake, collecting vital information is expected to lead to speedy recovery.
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