Urgent Need for Earthquake Resistance and Renewal

In the March 11, 2011 disaster that hit the Tohoku region, a massive earthquake was followed by a huge tsunami and the nuclear power plant accident, a chain of destruction exceeding assumptions and causing a fundamental rethinking of the recent bias toward economy and efficiency. We need to go back to a basic emphasis on safety and stability, especially when it comes to social infrastructure and other important facilities. Rather than looking only at the short term, we need a renewed appreciation for the importance of preventive maintenance from a perspective well into the future. This paper emphasize the importance of preventive maintenance for improving earthquake resistance of water supply facilities in Japan, a country where quakes can occur at any time or place, as well as of renewal plans for maintaining the soundness of the next generation of water pipeline systems. We have further introduced recent research in these areas at the Japan Water Research Centre conducted jointly by industry, government, and academia.