Started operation of "NEXCO EAST Technical Center"

Corporate Top
CSR
2020 special content
Started operation of "NEXCO EAST Technical Center"

The service extension of the Expressway within NEXCO EAST reaches up to about 4,000 km, and it is necessary to "train engineers", "improve technical skills", and "promote research and technology development" in response to the full-scale maintenance era. .. On the other hand, there is a need to reduce the opportunities to acquire the knowledge and experience at the construction site necessary for training young engineers, and to deal with issues such as the aging of structures and the improvement of productivity.

Based on this situation, we will implement experience/experience-based training to complement the field experience and deepen understanding of the mechanism of deterioration of structures and technological changes, and work on research and technology development utilizing advanced technologies such as AI and ICT. As a facility for this purpose, we have set up and started operation of the "NEXCO EAST Technical Center" in the Iwatsuki IC on the Tohoku Expressway.

Office building (left): Lecture room/VR room, laboratory, and exhibition room for disseminating information on safety and Expressway technology Development/practice building (right): Specimens of road structures such as concrete and pavement, site Photographs of actual equipment such as bridge floor slabs removed from the plant, specimens for performance verification of nondestructive inspection equipment, and actual equipment of toll collection facility — Company building (left): Lecture room/VR room, laboratory, exhibition room for disseminating information on Expressway technology and safety awareness
Development/practice building (right): Placement of concrete structures such as concrete structures and pavements, actual structures such as bridge floor slabs removed from the site and performance verification of non-destructive inspection equipment, and actual machines at toll collection facilities

4 approaches

Image of research and technological development

"Engineer development" that can respond to various technical issues, "Expert support" in the event of a disaster or emergency event, "Research and technology development" that utilizes advanced technologies such as AI and ICT, and Expressway that put safety first We will work on "safety education and awareness" to promote our business.

Photo of the lecture room — Lecture room

Photograph of the exhibition room for visitors that exhibits technological changes, disaster cases, and safety awareness — Exhibition room for visitors to exhibit technological changes, disaster cases, and safety awareness

Training engineers

In addition to learning basic engineering knowledge through classroom learning, through experience/experience-based training through real-life bridge floor slabs, pavement structures, earth structures, etc. We will systematically train engineers. We will also conduct training using actual equipment of toll gate equipment such as ETC equipment in order to improve on-site capabilities such as customer support.

The annual number of trainees, including engineer training and fee training, is expected to be about 1,600. (See P55 for details)

Photo of hands-on training with VR — VR-based hands-on training

Photo of tunnel structure model — Tunnel structure model

Photograph of the actual specimen of the bridge deck — Real specimen of bridge deck

Photograph of actual specimen of damaged pavement — Actual specimen of damaged pavement

Expert support

NEXCO EAST has highly specialized experts (earthworks, bridges, tunnels, snow and ice) leading the technology. We provide prompt and proactive advice and support in the event of local technical issues, disasters, and emergency events. When a landslide occurred due to a typhoon approaching in the fall of 2019, we dispatched experts to the affected areas such as Joshinetsu Expressway to provide technical advice and support for early recovery.

Photo of technical advice at the disaster site — Technical advice at the disaster site

Research and technology development

We will promote research and technology development that contributes to the sophistication of inspection technology, safety, and productivity improvement using advanced technology. First, we will work to improve our snow and ice measures, which is an important issue for us. We will introduce a low temperature and humidity tester and a corrosion acceleration tester that reproduce the low temperature state and corrosive environment in winter, and conduct tests and research on antifreezing agents and frost damage and snow damage. (See P53-54 for details)

Safety education/enlightenment

We will incorporate safety education into each training curriculum to foster safety awareness and improve safety management technology. In addition to lectures, we will teach the importance of ensuring safety by using recorded images, etc. In practice scaffolding, we will actually wear a fall prevention device and experience scaffolding work to deepen understanding of safety regulations.

Photo of safety training with training scaffolds — Safety training with training scaffolds