Damage to Expressway due to the Tohoku-Pacific Ocean Earthquake and restoration status (2)

We would like to pray for the souls of those who have died in the 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake, and to express our heartfelt sympathies to the affected people.

Notified on March 18 "Tohoku-Pacific Ocean Earthquake Damage and Recovery Status" As a follow-up report to the above, I would like to inform you that we have compiled the current restoration status of the Expressway in the NEXCO EAST business area.

Since the aftershocks are continuing, the situation of damage and restoration continues to change. We will continue to make every effort to restore the Group, and we ask for your understanding and cooperation.

About 20 routes such as Expressway damaged by the earthquake, a total of 870 km section, mainly on major routes such as Tohoku Expressway, By the early morning of March 12, the day after the earthquake, temporary restoration to enable passage of emergency vehicles is almost complete. However, since 12:00 on March 12, it has been designated as an emergency traffic route by the Public Safety Commission, and up to 6 routes, 583 km sections, have been used for emergency vehicle traffic and transportation of goods.

Following the temporary restoration, emergency vehicles have been completed and opened to allow the passage of general vehicles (speed control by each prefectural police, lane regulation, etc.). By March 22, it is expected that emergency restoration will be completed for the approximately 813 km section. As a result, emergency recovery will be completed for approximately 93% of the damaged 870km Expressway etc... The restoration status of each route is as follows.

1. Tohoku Expressway
Due to the aftershock, a large-scale crack that had been repaired was damaged again, so the 53 km section between the Shirakawa IC (Interchange) and the Motomiya IC, which had been continuing emergency repairs until now, will be repaired by March 22. Expected to be completed. As a result, the emergency restoration of the 347 km section of the Tohoku Expressway that was damaged this time will be completed.

(*Reference: Tohoku Expressway Urawa IC-Aomori IC extension is about 675 km)

2. Ban-Etsu Expressway
About 16 km between Koriyama East IC and Bandai Atami IC, which is connected to the Tohoku Expressway it is expected that emergency restoration will be completed by March 22. Along with this, the emergency recovery of the approximately 85 km section of the Ban-Etsu Expressway that was damaged this time will be completed.

(*Reference: The extension between the Iwaki JCT on the Ban-Etsu Expressway and the Niigata Chuo IC is approximately 213 km)

3. Yamagata Expressway
About 22 km between Murata JCT and Sasaya IC connected to the Tohoku Expressway it is expected that emergency restoration will be completed by March 22. Along with this, the emergency repair of the 28km section of the Yamagata Expressway that was damaged this time will be completed.

4. Joban Expressway
Due to the fact that the road itself collapsed for about 150 m, the 12 km section between Mito IC and Naka IC, which had been continuing emergency repair, was completed on March 21. Along with this, of the 153 km section of the Joban Expressway that was damaged this time, the section that does not enter due to the accident at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima, excluding about 43 km between Iwaki Chuo IC and Joban Tomioka IC The restoration is complete.
(*Reference: Extension between Joban Expressway Misato JCT and Joban Tomioka IC: 219km)

1. Toll booths, information-related facilities, etc.
For all sections of the Expressway main line for which emergency restoration has been completed, all emergency restoration has also been completed for various facilities for use on general vehicles, such as toll booths and information-related facilities for providing road information. ..

2. Service area (SA), parking area (PA)
At the moment, there is one SA, PA where commercial facilities such as restaurants and shops are not available due to damage to facilities and interruption of lifelines (mainly gas and water) (up to March 22) Is expected). As for toilets, temporary toilets have been installed so that they can be used even in places where the supply of water is stopped.

Note that some SAs and PAs other than the ones above are not available due to reasons such as being the base of recovery and rescue activities. Information regarding these SAs and PAs will be posted on our website. (Attachment 4 [PDF:69KB] reference)

Except for about 43 km between the Joban Expressway Iwaki Chuo IC and Joban Tomioka IC, which have not entered due to the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident, About 10 km between Sendai Wakabayashi JCT and Sendai Kohoku IC on the Sendai-Tobu Road and about 4 km between Sendai Kohoku IC and Rifu JCT on the Sanriku Expressway we aim to complete the restoration as soon as possible by the end of March. We are making every effort.

The emergency restoration that has been implemented so far is following the provisional restoration to enable the passage of emergency vehicles, and is also possible as soon as possible for the passage of ordinary vehicles (there is a speed regulation and lane regulation by each prefectural police). This is to be implemented in order to restore the original functions of the Expressway and is different from the actual restoration. In the future, we will carry out this restoration systematically in order for the sections where the emergency restoration has been completed.