No.81 Check the safety of block walls!

On June 18, 2018, an earthquake with a maximum seismic intensity of lower 6 occurred with its epicenter in northern Osaka Prefecture. In response to a request from the National Young Mayors Association, the city sent a blue sheet to Hirakata City, Osaka Prefecture.
The damage caused by this earthquake was mainly damage to the roof, and it seems that the affected area was relatively small, but as reported daily, in Takatsuki City, the block wall of the swimming pool collapsed, killing children on their way to school. A tragic accident has occurred.
In response to this, the city decided on its own that an emergency response was necessary, and from the following day, the 19th, carried out emergency inspections of block walls at public facilities. When we checked all 86 public facilities in the city, 79 of them did not have block walls, and out of 7 block walls, 2 met the standards and 5 did not, and on the 22nd of the same month, The first report was delivered to the city council.
At this point, we have hurriedly placed signs asking people not to approach fences that do not meet standards, and have decided to take measures for contingency funds and supplementary budgets to repair them within the fiscal year.
Since renovation would require a large amount of money, there was an option to reinforce the non-conforming parts and leave the conforming parts as they were, but considering the degree of deterioration, etc., we decided to renovate all the fences to make them less likely to collapse. It was made. In addition, we have added one location that was subsequently discovered as a result of a resurvey, and a permanent fence that was not included in the emergency survey.
By the way, regulations regarding block walls were introduced in 1970 when the Building Standards Act Enforcement Ordinance was amended in 1972 due to the Tokachi-Oki Earthquake in 1961, and furthermore, due to the Miyagi Prefecture-Oki Earthquake in 1971, the height was limited to 2.2 meters or less. The following amendments were implemented in 1981.
Safety measures have been strengthened several times in response to earthquake disasters, but as laws and regulations are not applied retroactively, some fences that were installed before the standards were revised remain in place.
In addition, it is said that the useful life of a typical block is 30 years even with good construction, and that internal reinforcing bars begin to rust in about 15 years, so even if they meet the standards, they may become dangerous due to aging. Masu.
In conjunction with this renovation of public facilities, the city has decided to conduct a survey of hazardous locations due to earthquake damage in order to encourage residents to take measures to eliminate dangers at residences and private facilities within the city.
As announced in the August 1, 2018 issue of Public Information Inagi, city staff will begin a citywide survey by the end of September 2018, so we ask for your understanding and cooperation. I would like
The survey will target masonry walls such as block walls, permanent walls, and Oya stone walls that are installed facing the road and are over 1.2 meters in height.
However, as officials do not have the right to enter and investigate, this time the inspection will be done visually from the road, and it may be unclear whether or not there is a buttress behind the block wall or whether there are reinforcing bars inside the wall. there is.
Therefore, in conjunction with the investigation, we will be distributing a request document entitled ``Safety Inspection of Block Walls, etc. (Request)'' to the relevant locations, so that citizens can conduct self-inspections and consult experts as necessary. Please feel free to consult with us.
In order to prevent painful accidents, please consider making repairs if it turns out to be dangerous.
The city also has a system that subsidizes a portion of the cost when removing a block wall to install a hedge, so please consider taking advantage of it.