Investigation of the Tunnel Ceiling Collapse in the Central Expressway in Japan

On December 2, 2012, an accident took place in the 2.9 miles Sasago Tunnel on the Central Expressway in Yamanashi, about 50 miles west of Tokyo. In this accident, a number of factors converged and built up over time, including issues in the design, construction and maintenance stages, and as a result adhesive anchor bolts suspending the ceiling panels pulled out, and both ceiling panels and partition walls (total weight approx. 500 t) fell down over a continuous section of length approx. 153 yd, resulting in the deaths of 9 people. When construction of these ceiling panels was completed, there were already some underlying factors from the design and construction stage which contributed to this accident, such as the presence of some adhesive bolts which did not exhibit the specified pull-out strength. Furthermore, the action of the load and deterioration of materials over 35 years of service are also believed to be causative factors, and it was concluded that the decline and loss of pull-out strength progressed due to issues such as the fatigue (decreased strength) and deterioration of shear strength of the adhesive resin, eventually resulting in the bolts pulling out, and the panels falling. Taking into consideration the results of the examination, the use of adhesive bolts were forbidden at points such as tunnel ceiling panels which are subjected to constant pulling force, until a certain degree of knowledge has been built up regarding long-term durability performance.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AFF60 Tunnels and Underground Structures. Alternate title: Investigation of Tunnel Ceiling Collapse on Central Expressway in Japan
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Kawahara, Shuntaro
  • Doi, Hirotsugu
  • Shirato, Masahiro
  • Kajifusa, Nobuaki
  • Kutsukake, Toshio
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 93rd Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC
  • Date: 2014-1-12 to 2014-1-16
• Date: 2014

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: 11p
• Monograph Title: TRB 93rd Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Case studies; Collapse; Expressways; Highway safety; Vehicular tunnels
• Geographic Terms: Yamanashi (Japan)
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Safety and Human Factors; I25: Design of Tunnels; I60: Maintenance; I82: Accidents and Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01515650
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 14-2559
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Feb 24 2014 5:00PM