Reconstruction After a Tsunami

The worst earthquake in Japanese history hit the country on March 11, 2011. The tsunami that followed devastated Eastern Japan, and many lives were lost. Tens of thousands of people had to leave their homes to escape the nuclear meltdown of Fukushima. Today, just five years on, the region is making a remarkable recovery. 

A new town
The town of Rikuzentakata is one example of the recovery process after it was destroyed by the earthquake and the tsunami that followed. Today, a completely new community is under construction on the site, including schools, hospitals, a railway station, commercial center and reinforced sea defenses. The former residents who have been living in temporary prefabricated shelters now have hopes of returning home by 2018.

On top of this, more than 90 hectares of land is being elevated by seven to 11 meters to accommodate new housing projects.

The rockfill required for these new coastal embankments is being extracted from the hills. It is a huge task, involving an unprecedented amount of drilling, blasting and haulage.

The work is being carried out by a joint venture consisting of Japan Rock Engineering and Japan Blasting Technics. Between them, these companies are using a fleet of seven Atlas Copco tophammer drill rigs, all PowerROC T35 and T45 models.

Japan and the world are watching this job site,” said Takashi Sasada, Japan Rock’s site manager. “We cannot delay the time necessary for completion. We are very satisfied with the machines which have stabilized production in these tough ground conditions.”

Read more stories about how we create a sustainable world in our 2016 Achieve magazine