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SASAKI Yoh, the 112th President of the Japan Society of Civil Engineers, delivered a message to JSCE members on February 26th, 2025, regarding a road collapse accident caused by a sewer in Saitama Prefecture.
* Note: The Japanese text shall prevail if there is any conflict or inconsistency between these two texts.

Since the road collapse accident caused by a sewer pipe in the Nakagawa River Basin Sewer System in Yashio City, Saitama Prefecture, on January 28th, 2025, I have been distressed as the President and as a member of JSCE. I want to express my sympathy to the people affected by this accident, including those who are still searching for the missing person, those who are devoting their energies to dealing with the situation on the ground, those who are having to live with restrictions in the area around the site, the 1.2 million people who have their water use affected, those involved in wastewater treatment, and those in various locations who are working urgently on inspections and other tasks. I hope daily life will return to the area as soon as possible.

I believe that the JSCE members, experts in civil engineering, are also paying close attention to this infrastructure accident and wondering what they can do about it.

Maintaining and extending the infrastructure’s lifespan have been significant issues. The Sasago Tunnel accident in December 2012 made us awoken our preparedness. This road collapse accident will impact society in the same way as the Sasago Tunnel accident.

Since they designated 2013 as “The beginning of infrastructure maintenance,” the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) has undertaken many initiatives. JSCE has also been at the forefront of the civil engineering domain in promoting the importance of infrastructure maintenance and technology. However, this accident has occurred. How should we, the JSCE members, take this situation?

In particular, we have seen extensive damage to invisible underground structures, as well as the impact and difficulty of recovering from an accident that causes a loss of function in a network of lifelines. It is necessary to have a broader perspective in the discussion than just dealing with the ongoing accident and ensuring the integrity of structures.

What is “the perspective” in this case?

For example:

1. There are multiple lifelines underground of road infrastructure.
2. Although these underground lifelines are invisible, they exist as a network very close to us.
3. Water supply and sewage systems play a role in the hydrologic cycle in the region.
4. These infrastructures’ construction, usage, and management costs are expensive, and the cost-bearing scheme is difficult to understand.
5. “We” live in a so-called built environment created throughout history. 
6. Measures cannot be implemented without a broad understanding and agreement from “us.”

Keeping these scopes in mind, we need to find a way to solve the issues, and at the same time, we need to aim for a society where we, who use the infrastructure, think about how we can live with the infrastructure as our issue.
 
It is impossible to consider all these issues by each person, field, or sector. The JSCE has civil engineers from a wide range of fields. We want to use this strength as a collaborative effort across borders to work on technology for infrastructure maintenance and management more than ever. Thus, we will provide a place for dialogue and discussion.

At the same time, I would like to encourage JSCE members who are not directly involved in the above discussion to talk to the people close to them, such as their colleagues, family, and neighbors, about how they can deal with familiar infrastructure such as sewers as a matter that concerns them personally. We, JSCE, have a vast knowledge accumulated in the JSCE Journal. We also have proposals and statements published for society. While using these resources and not limiting ourselves to each expertise, our efforts in facing and engaging in dialogue will help to develop the essential strength needed to move society and the future in a better direction. 

In this message, I would like to ask all 38,000 JSCE members to work together to tackle this complex problem as a team of the JSCE.

February 26th, 2025

SASAKI Yoh, Prof.,  Dr.Eng
The 112th JSCE President

These are my thoughts at this point.

I have also added links to the backnumbers of JSCE Journal and JSCE’s statements and proposals related to our confronting issues.

We will continue providing information as we make the activity plans more concrete. So, I would like to ask all JSCE members to start with what you can do.

Finally, I thank everyone who gave me advice and support in composing this message.

https://committees.jsce.or.jp/chair/112-message_20250226jp

土木界に限らず世界には課題が山積しています。

それらを解きほぐしていくためにも、インフラの未来をけん引する土木学会の会員一人ひとりが、互いを信頼し、自由に交流することが今、求められていると考えます。

そして「土木学会という共同体はそのためのインフラである」と全ての会員と職員が思ったなら、学会活動のかたちも変化し、その風景も新しくなる。

そんな新しい学会の風景を一緒に描いていきましょう。

交流の風景PJは、会員一人ひとりが土木学会との距離感を縮め、自由に学会という場で活動する楽しさを感じられるような環境、雰囲気を作っていきます。それによって、土木学会と会員のアイデンティティが明確になり、より様々な人たちの参加がえられる場になっていくことを目指します。

会員名刺デザイン活用WG／土木学会D&I行動宣言フォローアップWG／クマジロウの教えてドボコン動画配信WG

広がる仕事の風景PJは、全国あるいは世界各地にいる会員が携わる様々な仕事にフォーカスします。従来紹介されてきた土木の仕事だけじゃない、こんな仕事、こんなはたらき方があっていいんだ。そんな元気や勇気がもらえる仕事の様子を各地に取材し、お伝えして行きます。それによって土木の仕事のひろがりを学会内外に伝えることを目指します。

ひろがるインフラWG／仕事の風景探訪WG／Ｄ＆ＩカフェトークＷＧ

交流も発信もなんといってもその情報インターフェースがストレスフリーであることが必要です。学会活動に関わる膨大な情報のアーカイブと共有のためにも、事務局機能の効率化にも、やはりDXは欠かせません。お金も労力も時間もかかりますが、「やりましょう！」と宣言して、計画的に進めていくための体制づくりに着手します。

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• 「インフラメンテナンス＆マネジメントのためのオール土木学会とりくみ検討会」の設置について

2025年3月21日
公益社団法人土木学会
会長 佐々木葉

2025年2月26日に発出した「下水道に起因する道路陥没事故をうけての土木学会会長から会員の皆さんへのメッセージ」（https://committees.jsce.or.jp/chair/112-message_20250226jp）の趣旨に基づき、インフラメンテナンスとマネジメントのための広い意味での技術に取り組むための対話と議論の場となる会議体を設置することについて2025年3月14日開催の第5回理事会で審議され、下記のとおり設置が承認されたことを会員の皆さまにお知らせいたします。

記

名称：

「インフラメンテナンス＆マネジメントのためのオール土木学会とりくみ検討会」

目的：

①    「道路陥没事故をうけて改めて課題視されたインフラメンテナンスとマネジメント」というイシューに関連する論点、課題、土木学会内の既存リソース等の可視化
②    上記をふまえて、優先的に取り組む事項の明確化と実践の初動

体制：

座長：佐々木葉
検討会メンバーは関連の深い委員会等と相談しながら決定する。

活動期間：

2025年3月から準備を始め、2025年4月中に会議体を立ち上げ、活動を開始する。
期間は1年以内（2026年3月まで）とする。

以上

本件に関する問合せ先：

公益社団法人土木学会 事務局 会員・企画課 二瓶・中島
メール：planning@jsce.or.jp