ABSTRACT
In 1999, a series of accidents occurred in which pieces of concrete lining in the Fukuoka Tunnel and the Kita-Kyushu Tunnel on the Sanyo Shinkansen Line came loose and fell. These accidents greatly affected the trust had in the Sanyo Shinkansen Line. Therefore, West Japan Railway Company (hereafter, "JR West") conducted comprehensive safety inspections of the Sanyo Shinkansen tunnels more securely and thoroughly ever had(hereafter, "comprehensive inspections”) to verify safety of the Sanyo Shinkansen Line. JR West has taken the completion of comprehensive inspections as a new starting point and began implementing various new safety measures. In this paper, we present an outline of comprehensive inspections, the results of the inspection, and technological development efforts related to tunnel maintenance that have been undertaken since the implementation of comprehensive inspections.
