[Feature]　1.Domestic　　Expansion of domestic base of operations

Infrastructure development ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympic Games

With projects to build the competition venues for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games already underway, full-fledged development of transportation infrastructure to support the event has begun. In addition to the plan to open a new line linking central Tokyo and Haneda Airport, plans are moving forward for a new station between the Shinagawa and Tamachi stations on the Yamanote Line and Keihin Tohoku Line, which will be timed to open for service with the start of the Olympic Games. Development plans for the three ring roads that will be the key to improving transportation efficiency in the Tokyo metropolitan area, including the Tokyo Outer Ring Road (Tokyo-Gaikan Expressway) targeted for completion by about 2020, and the Metropolitan Inter-City Expressway (Ken-O Expressway) that will link each expressway, are moving forward as well.

Work begins in earnest to construct planned Shinkansen lines and the Linear Chuo Shinkansen

Works to extend the planned Shinkansen lines in Hokkaido, Hokuriku, Kyushu and elsewhere are moving ahead, and construction of the Linear Chuo Shinkansen is proceeding as well, with the goal of opening the line for service in 2027. Total expenditures for these projects are provisionally calculated between 8.3 trillion to 9.9 trillion yen. Tunnel intervals will account for 246.6 km or about 86% of the 285.6 km segment between Shinagawa and Nagoya, and full-scale construction of the Southern Alps Tunnel in Yamanashi Prefecture has been underway since December 2015.
In August 2016 Kanamoto launched its Specialized Equipment Engineering Division and established a Tunnel Machinery Section and Water Treatment Machinery Section in the same division. The Company is working to strengthen its organization, to enable it to respond in all directions in cooperation with group companies to the increased work on the planned Shinkansen lines, the Linear Chuo Shinkansen, and tunnel-related construction works on each main line route in the future.

Redevelopment plan for the 2025 Osaka Expo

With its selection as the venue for hosting the 2025 International Exhibition (Expo), construction demand in Osaka is picking up as well. The Expo, which is tentatively calculated to have an economic impact of about two trillion yen, has been positioned as an economic stimulus program following the Tokyo Olympics, and approximately 125 billion yen of the 300 billion yen in expenditures to hold the exposition is expected to be invested in site construction.
The expo site will be Yumeshima, an artificial island in Osaka Bay (Yumeshima: total area 390 hectares). Because access to Yumeshima currently is limited to a single roadway tunnel, plans are being studied for the expansion of various railway lines, including the Osaka Metro Chuo Line, the Keihan Nakanoshima Line and the JR Yumesaki (Sakurajima) Line, as a means to transport the roughly 28 million visitors projected to attend the fair. With the simultaneous opening of an integrated resort (IR) encompassing a casino being considered as well, infrastructure construction including redevelopment of the areas surrounding Osaka Bay is expected to accelerate in the future.

Infrastructure renewal will require approximately 195 trillion yen over the next 30 years

Much of Japan’s infrastructure continues to age and deteriorate. The percentage of infrastructure more than 50 years old has reached 25% of road bridges in 730,000 locations, 20% of tunnels in more than 10,000 locations, and 17% of harbors and bulkhead wharves in 5,000 locations, and these numbers are projected to climb in the future. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, expenditures required over the next 30 years for maintenance and renewal of 12 infrastructure sectors such as roads and rivers are expected to reach as high as 194.6 trillion yen, a figure that is estimated to jump by another 38.4 trillion yen when the railway sector is added. Moreover, these numbers assume “preventive maintenance” to repair facilities before they deteriorate and their functions are impaired, while “breakdown maintenance” for repairs when facility deterioration is in an advanced state is expected to require substantial outlays of about 90 trillion yen.
Aside from the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism as well, upgrade plans are moving ahead for the three NEXCO companies to spend about 3 trillion yen, with just the Shuto Expressway and Hanshin Expressway, both of which are large-scale expressway projects, requiring combined total expenditures of approximately 1.0 trillion yen.

Promoting technology that will help maintain safety

Given such present conditions, public works programs addressing infrastructure upgrades and repairs are already underway in various regions throughout Japan based on The Basic Plan for Extending the Lifespan of Infrastructure, one part of the push for “national resilience” for which the government has announced vast expenditures on the scale of 200 trillion yen.
The Kanamoto Group is actively developing products for infrastructure maintenance and repair as well as new products based on advanced technologies, and introducing products registered in NETIS* (New Technical Information Provision System). In addition, we have prepared an ample lineup of special construction equipment for ground improvement, plus teams of ground improvement specialists at companies within the Group, enabling us to lend a hand for works at locations such as petroleum industrial complexes where deep underground construction work, underwater work, and thorough prevention of ground sinking and subsidence are absolutely essential.
Demand for such specialized engineering works equipment is also vigorous in ASEAN countries, as described on pages 26 and 27. Kanamoto’s construction equipment is on the job not only in Japan, but at overseas infrastructure construction project sites as well.

*Technical information database accumulated based on the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism’s System for Application of Technology in Public Works Etc.

“i-Construction” efforts to accelerate

“i-Construction” seeks to boost productivity by introducing ICT (Information and Communication Technology) to every process at construction worksites, from surveying, design, and construction to maintenance management. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is promoting this measure as one solution to the serious labor shortage problems confronting Japan’s construction industry, such as the decline in the number of young workers and decrease in skilled operators because of the declining birthrate and aging of Japan’s society. While i-Construction has been introduced progressively since fiscal 2016 as an ICT construction method for paving works (road bed works), dredging works, and river dredging works, efforts are accelerating as firms seek to mechanize and shorten construction periods. This includes a recent decision on full-scale introduction for ICT ground improvement works and ICT paving works (repair works) from fiscal 2019.

Construction production systems utilizing ICT and AI

In addition to positioning increased infrastructure maintenance efficiency through the use of ICT technology and artificial intelligence (AI) as one growth strategy, the government has settled on the enhancement of measures to enable the most advanced ICT technologies such as driverless construction equipment to be used to the maximum extent possible for infrastructure disaster recovery projects as a key pillar of the Fundamental Plan for National Resilience.
As the application of ICT and AI picks up momentum, Kanamoto has already established special divisions, including the Construction ICT Promotion Section and Internet of Things Promotion Section, and has introduced construction equipment to support i-Construction and is implementing systems operations support. Our New Products Office also is supporting the growing need for development of equipment that applies IoT-related technologies, and has developed and introduced products such as a “construction equipment remote-control robot" that achieves radio-control of general-purpose construction equipment, and a “contact prevention system” for construction equipment that is equipped with an AI-based physical object recognition function. Kanamoto will continue to support construction production systems utilizing ICT, which are expected to find even greater applications in the future.