Lessons learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake Available to Purchase

In the event of disasters, one of the most important priorities for rescue agencies at an early stage is to secure traffic on routes connecting with the affected areas. In the Great East Japan Earthquake, 2310 km of the expressway network operated by East Nippon Expressway Co., Ltd. (Nexco East) was closed. However, within 20 h approximately 770 km was reopened for ordinary traffic and approximately 1040 km for emergency vehicle use. Thirteen days afterwards, temporary repair works had been completed; all expressways were opened to all traffic, which contributed to emergency restoration activities. Based on the experience of this earthquake, Nexco East has been improving its disaster response capability and developing measures such as the utilisation of rest areas as disaster response bases, introducing inspection procedures in the early stages after disaster occurrence and strengthening cooperation with related organisations.