By REO KOMEDA/ Staff Writer
May 21, 2024 at 15:18 JST
The cracked bottom of a dry pond in Mizunami, Gifu Prefecture, on May 6, 2024 (Noboru Tomura)
NAGOYA—Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) said May 20 it will “immediately suspend” all tunnel excavation work for the magnetic-levitation (maglev) Chuo Shinkansen Line in an area where wells and reservoirs are drying up.
JR Tokai in June will begin a borehole investigation in the Okute district of Mizunami city in Gifu Prefecture to determine the geological conditions. It will consider its course of action for the tunnel construction work after viewing the results of the study.
After water levels dropped in Okute, JR Tokai President Shunsuke Niwa said at a May 16 news conference that the company would temporarily halt tunnel construction work and conduct a borehole investigation.
But he said the company’s plan to dig a tunnel to an area in front of where Okute residents live would not change.
However, Mizunami Mayor Koji Mizuno on May 17 demanded JR Tokai immediately stop all construction work and “analyze and investigate the cause of the problem and take necessary measures as soon as possible.”
Gifu Governor Hajime Furuta also said he hopes JR Tokai would “take necessary measures as soon as possible while gaining the full understanding of local residents.”
A JR Tokai representative said the decision to immediately suspend all tunnel construction work “was based on the concerns of the people of Okute and requests from Gifu Prefecture and Mizunami city.”
The company has suspended construction since May 17 for equipment inspections. But only on May 20 did it decide not to resume the digging work.
The company confirmed that water levels have dropped at 14 wells and reservoirs in the Okute area. The tunnel construction is believed to have disrupted the flow of spring water to the area.
JR Tokai has begun work to switch well water to water supply for the community, and it has entered negotiations to compensate affected residents.
On May 20, the company said it has started to build a well to serve as an alternative water source and is injecting chemicals to reduce the amount of water gushing out from the tunnel construction.
Groundwater drying up in Gifu near work for maglev tunnel
May 15, 2024
Tunnel collapse causes first death related to maglev train project
October 28, 2021
90-meter-deep tunnel being bored for maglev Shinkansen
January 16, 2024
JR Tokai, Shizuoka leader still at odds over maglev line plan
September 14, 2022
Ministry to issue rare guidance to JR Tokai on maglev project
December 20, 2021
Maglev line in focus as 6 enter race for governor of Shizuoka
May 10, 2024
A peek through the music industry’s curtain at the producers who harnessed social media to help their idols go global.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
