Subcommittee on Maintenance and Design Methods for Road Bridge Deck Slabs
Committee Overview
◆Purpose of Establishment
The 7th-term Subcommittee on Road Bridge Decks (October 2021–September 2024) conducted research on rationalized design and technologies for extending service life. The Subcommittee examined revisions to the Guidelines for Waterproofing Systems for Road Bridge Decks 2016 (Steel Structure Series 28), published during the 5th term, as well as the Road Bridge Deck Maintenance Manual 2020 (Steel Structure Series 35) and the Guidelines for Bridge-Deck Concrete Pavement for Extending the Service Life of Road Bridge Decks 2020 (Steel Structure Series 36), published during the 6th term. In addition, to contribute to the establishment of rational design methods for concrete decks, the Subcommittee organized design provisions and design conditions affecting durability and compiled the results in a committee report. The 12th and 13th Road Bridge Deck Symposia were also held in 2022 and 2024, respectively. Based on the report of the previous-term committee, the newly established Subcommittee will work toward revising the maintenance manual and the waterproofing and pavement guidelines. Since the maintenance of bridge decks must be considered integrally with waterproofing and pavement, these three elements need to be addressed together. Meanwhile, various joint systems for precast PC decks have been developed for the increasing number of large-scale deck replacement projects. There is a need to establish methods for evaluating these joints, as well as to examine methods for strengthening existing girders.
◆Objectives and Activities
The newly established Subcommittee focuses on maintenance management and design methods for road bridge decks and aims to conduct activities on the following topics.
（1）Publication of a Road Bridge Deck Maintenance Manual Incorporating Pavement and Waterproofing
In preparation for revising the manual and guidelines, the previous-term Subcommittee collected materials related to inspection, diagnosis, and waterproofing and developed repair-measure flows. Bridge-deck concrete pavement was also evaluated as a technology capable of strengthening bridge decks through composite action with the deck. Based on these findings, the newly established Subcommittee will conduct further studies with the aim of revising the maintenance manual. Since waterproofing and pavement are also part of repair and strengthening measures for bridge decks, the manual needs to incorporate these elements. Therefore, the Subcommittee aims to publish a maintenance manual that integrates pavement, waterproofing, and bridge decks as three inseparable components. With future systematization in mind, the Subcommittee will also continue collecting information on inspection and diagnostic technologies and waterproofing, and will conduct long-term investigations of bridge-deck concrete pavement.
（2）Proposal of Design Methods
Various joint systems for precast PC decks have been developed to accommodate deck replacement in large-scale renewal projects. Since these systems are currently evaluated mainly by wheel-running fatigue tests, the Subcommittee considers it necessary to establish design-based evaluation methods that account for both deck action and girder action. Studies will therefore be conducted toward establishing such methods. In addition, issues related to verification methods for existing girders during deck replacement, including full-width and half-width construction methods, will be identified through the collection of case studies, with the aim of proposing rational design methods. Continuing the work of the previous term, the Subcommittee will also examine methods for rationalizing design and compile materials that can be reflected in future revisions of specifications, manuals, and related documents.
◆Method of Activities
Subcommittees or working groups will be established under the Subcommittee according to specific technical issues. The full committee will meet approximately once every three to four months, with subcommittee and working-group meetings held as needed in between. Lectures by experts and site visits will also be organized as appropriate. In addition, the Road Bridge Deck Symposium, which attracts many participants and presentations each time, will continue to be held every two years as a forum for technical exchange among researchers, engineers, road administrators, and others.
◆Activity Period
October 2025 – September 2028 (three years)
Committee Members
| Chair | Keigo Kubo | Miyaji Engineering Co., Ltd. |
| Vice Chair | Ryosuke Shionaga | IHI Infrastructure Square Co., Ltd. |
| Secretary-General | Koki Oyama | Docon Co., Ltd. |
| Secretary | Hiroshi Higashiyama | Kindai University |
| Secretary | Hiroki Akamatsu | Toa Road Corporation |
| Secretary | Kazuhiko Mizuguchi | Nihon University |
| Secretary | Takahiko Maekawa | Naigai Structure Co., Ltd. |
| (Liaison Secretary) | Yoshinori Danshita | Kawada Industries, Inc. |
| Head of Design Subcommittee | Yohei Azuma | Pacific Consultants Co., Ltd. |
| Secretary, Design Subcommittee | Kiyoshi Kirikawa | PS Construction Co., Ltd. |
| Head of Maintenance Subcommittee | Yoshiji Kubo | Kanazawa University |
| Secretary, Maintenance Subcommittee | Hisashi Kakuma | Civil Engineering Research Institute for Cold Region, Public Works Research Institute |
| Head of Bridge-Deck Concrete Pavement Subcommittee | Masayuki Hashimoto | Construction Technology Research Department, Japan Construction Machinery and Construction Association |
| Secretary, Bridge-Deck Concrete Pavement Subcommittee | Makoto Yamamoto | Sumitomo Osaka Cement Co., Ltd. |
| Members listed below (Japanese alphabetical order) | Shinya Akae | Taiheiyo Materials Corporation |
| Satoshi Ando | JFE Engineering Corporation | |
| Kazuhisa Ishida | Metropolitan Expressway Company Limited | |
| Kiyoshi Ito | Taisei Rotec Corporation | |
| Daisuke Ito | Taisei Rotec Corporation | |
| Naofumi Inaba | Central Nippon Expressway Company Limited | |
| Keiji Imayoshi | Naigai Structure Co., Ltd. | |
| Yasunori Iwamoto | Tokuyama Corporation | |
| Norihisa Ueda | West Nippon Expressway Engineering Kansai Co., Ltd. | |
| Kei Otsuka | TODA CORPORATION | |
| Hiroshi Onishi | Iwate University | |
| Tatsuo Ogata | West Nippon Expressway Engineering Kyushu Co., Ltd. | |
| Minori Okuda | Geo Search Co., Ltd. | |
| Koji Kani | TODA CORPORATION | |
| Kazuo Kawase | Chiyoda Engineering Consultants Co., Ltd. | |
| Tatsunori Kawahigashi | Yokogawa Bridge Corp. | |
| Toshiyuki Kanda | Chemical Construction Co., Ltd. | |
| Akinori Kiuchi | Kajima Road Co., Ltd. | |
| Shinpei Kikuchi | Construction Technology Research Department, Japan Construction Machinery and Construction Association | |
| Kumiko Kitano | Pacific Consultants Co., Ltd. | |
| Koichi Kitamura | IHI Infrastructure Square Co., Ltd. | |
| Takashi Kobayashi | IHI Infrastructure Square Co., Ltd. | |
| Hisashi Konno | Sun Bridge Co., Ltd. | |
| Isao Saiki | Kyushu Institute of Technology | |
| Makoto Saito | Denka Company Limited | |
| Shunta Sakurai | Nippon Steel Chemical & Material Co., Ltd. | |
| Iwao Sasaki | Public Works Research Institute | |
| Yuki Shiraishi | Fuji P.S Corporation | |
| Satoshi Suzuki | Kawada Construction Co., Ltd. | |
| Yoshihiro Tachibana | FULLTEC Co., Ltd. | |
| Shinsuke Tanaka | Nichireki Group Co., Ltd. | |
| Shota Tsuji | Kawada Industries, Inc. | |
| Takayoshi Tomii | OBAYASHI CORPORATION | |
| Masahiro Tomiie | Nippon Expressway Research Institute Company Limited | |
| Takashi Nakata | OBAYASHI CORPORATION | |
| Yoshihiko Nakano | Fukuoka-Kitakyushu Expressway Public Corporation | |
| Tomonori Nakahara | Japan Bridge Corporation | |
| Keisuke Nakamoto | Komaihaltec Inc. | |
| Tomohiko Nishihara | Hanshin Expressway Company Limited | |
| Gen Hayashi | Nagaoka University of Technology | |
| Yoshio Hisa | Graduate School, Kyoto University | |
| Takamasa Fujimoto | Nippon Expressway Research Institute Company Limited | |
| Toshiyuki Fujiwara | Hinode, Ltd. | |
| Kota Matsuda | Geo Search Co., Ltd. | |
| Hidenori Matsunawa | Sun Bridge Co., Ltd. | |
| Sho Matsumura | Eight-Japan Engineering Consultants Inc. | |
| Toshio Matsumura | Takigami Steel Construction Co., Ltd. | |
| Katsunori Miki | Docon Co., Ltd. | |
| Maki Mizuta | RIKEN | |
| Hiroshi Mitamura | Sun Bridge Co., Ltd. | |
| Masatoshi Mori | Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Expressway Company Limited | |
| Akira Yakushiji | SHO-BOND CORPORATION | |
| Toru Yasui | Eight-Japan Engineering Consultants Inc. | |
| Shinji Yamada | Nagoya Expressway Public Corporation | |
| Koji Yamada | Nippon Engineering Consultants Co., Ltd. | |
| Hitoshi Wada | Takadakiko Co., Ltd. | |
| Shinya Watanabe | LiT Co., Ltd. | |
| Teruyasu Watanabe | Kumagai Gumi Co., Ltd. | |
| Muneyuki Watanabe | TOHKO GEOTECH CORPORATION | |
| Advisor | Shigeyuki Matsui | Professor Emeritus, Osaka University; Visiting Professor, Osaka Institute of Technology |
| Advisor | Shinichi Hino | President, Kurume Institute of Technology |
| Advisor | Koji Ota | NPO Council for Improving Road Safety |
| Advisor | Tadashi Abe | Professor Emeritus, Nihon University |
※Updated June 15, 2026
1st Full Committee Meeting Agenda