About damage to interior plates of Tohoku Expressway Sakanashi tunnel (Out-bound line)

NEXCO EAST Tohoku office (Aoba Ward, Sendai City) Tohoku Expressway At the Sakanashi tunnel (Out-bound line), the interior plate of the tunnel was damaged and Expressway main line. Our traffic control team found it falling into the area. No accidents such as injuries or property damage have been confirmed.

Today, we are carrying out an emergency inspection of the interior plate of the Sakanashi tunnel to confirm the safety, but we will continue to implement the necessary damage prevention measures.

1 History of discovery

At around 6:57 on Friday, January 25, a traffic control team that was patroling the Expressway that the interior plate on the passing lane side of the Tohoku Expressway Sakanashi tunnel (Out-bound) was damaged and dropped. discovered.

2 Occurrence location

Tohoku Expressway Out-bound Line Sakanashi Tunnel (Opening date: July 30, 1986)
(Between Kosaka Interchange and Igarigaseki Interchange)
Place name: Kosaka-machi, Kazuno-gun, Akita Prefecture

3 damaged interior plate

2,420mm×1,210mm×4mm 1 sheet Weight approx. 29kg
*The interior plate is a panel attached to the side of the tunnel to improve the visual environment inside the tunnel.

4 Cause of damage

The interior plate vibrates and is damaged when the running wind of a large vehicle traveling inside the tunnel enters the gap between the ends of the interior plate.

5 Last inspection date of the location

August 23, 2012 An emergency inspection was conducted by visual inspection and palpation, and there was no abnormality in the relevant part.

6 Future action

As for the Sakanashi tunnel, we will immediately implement measures to prevent running wind from entering areas that may be damaged as well.

As with the Sakanashi tunnel, we plan to implement emergency inspections and measures to prevent running wind from entering the interior plates of other tunnels.

【Location map】

[Situation photo]