Skip to main content

NEXCO to remove ceiling tiles in nine of its Japan expressway tunnels

Central Nippon Expressway Co (NEXCO) East Japan is to remove ceiling tiles in nine of its expressway tunnels in Japan, less than a year after nine people died following the collapse of Sasago tunnel in Yamanashi Prefecture. A company spokesperson has reportedly said that the firm is shutting down the tunnels on the Kan-Etsu Expressway and the Hokuriku Expressway during evenings until July 2013, to enable the removal of the existing tiles. After the Sasago tunnel collapse in December 2012, an emergency inspe
June 3, 2013 Read time: 1 min
Central Nippon Expressway Co (NEXCO) East Japan is to remove ceiling tiles in nine of its expressway tunnels in Japan, less than a year after nine people died following the collapse of Sasago tunnel in Yamanashi Prefecture.

A company spokesperson has reportedly said that the firm is shutting down the tunnels on the Kan-Etsu Expressway and the Hokuriku Expressway during evenings until July 2013, to enable the removal of the existing tiles.

After the Sasago tunnel collapse in December 2012, an emergency inspection of the tunnel’s southbound lane found defects in 670 locations. In around 632 locations, the bolts that fix the ceiling panels to the tunnel were said to be corroded or loose, while there was a crack in the tunnel's concrete ceiling.

Related Content

  • Increase in fatal vehicle crashes across US
    December 4, 2015
    A worrying increase in fatalities from vehicle crashes has been noted in the US during the first half of 2015. This comes in the wake of several years of improvements in road safety. A new report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for the first six months of 2015 shows that motor vehicle fatalities increased 8.1% compared to the same period last year.
  • Cianbro picks up another contract for Washington’s Memorial Bridge
    July 15, 2015
    The 1930’s Arlington Memorial Bridge in Washington, which has carried US presidents and military heroes across the Potomac River to the famous Arlington Cemetery, is to undergo refurbishment, again. Cianbro Corporation, based in the state of Maine and which worked on the bridge in 2013, picked up the contract for US$2,523,520, according to a notice on the FedBizOpps.gov website. The Federal Business Opportunities website had earlier this year asked for submissions for the work: “The project will be sp
  • Signify to light up Massey Tunnel
    January 15, 2021
    The LED replacements in the Vancouver area tunnel are Lumec TunnelView, made by Signify.
  • Mexico: underwater tunnel in Latin America
    May 8, 2015
    Mexico will benefit from an important new underwater tunnel - Mauro Nogarin writes. The city of Coatzacoalcos is located at the mouth of the river of the same name, in the Gulf of Mexico, 302km from the city of Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, in the east end of trans-isthmian corridor and at the southern end of Veracruz State. The city is seeing a key development as currently construction is 85% completed on the first immersed tube, underwater tunnel in Latin America. The reasons why experts chose this type of tunne