tunnel Archives

Japan tunnel disaster flashback

The very recent tragic accident in the Sasago Tunnel in Japan brings memories of our first mission in that country, in the aftermath of the Toyohama Tunnel accident in Furubira Town (Hokkaido, Japan) on February 10, 1996 (Toyohama Tunnel Rockfall). The collapse of Toyohama tunnel crushed cars and a bus, killing 20 people in 1996. The causes of that failure were very different from the present case, but that’s not the point to be discussed here. At that time, local…