October 28, 2013

Shimizu Developed Location Evaluation System for Global CompaniesNear-instant access to disaster risk information for any location worldwide

Shimizu Corporation (President: Yoichi Miyamoto) has announced the development of the Shimizu Global Hazard Evaluation System, a hazard evaluation system used to assess potential construction sites. Designed to assist global firms with the planning of factories, offices, or other facilities at overseas sites, the system provides hazard evaluations and other information on hazards and natural disasters for sites anywhere in the world, giving companies the information they need to make prudent site selections.

Facing accelerating economic globalization, more and more companies are building factories and offices outside their home country. At the same time, the increasing frequency of natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods has made these companies eager for information on potential risks associated with particular sites. To understand these risks, companies must perform hazard evaluations before they begin work at a construction site. Unfortunately, information on hazards and natural disasters comes from numerous scattered sources. Collecting the necessary information can be difficult, while the scope of the data a company can gather on its own is limited.

In response, Shimizu has developed the Shimizu Global Hazard Evaluation System. This system allows users to instantly view the information needed for site-specific hazard assessments by selecting any location on Google Earth and pulling up the information needed for hazard and disaster evaluations from the Internet and from Shimizu’s own databases.

These hazard evaluations give projections on seven types of risk that could cause serious damage: earthquakes; strong winds; floods; landslides; forest fires; volcanic eruptions; and lightning. Firstly, the system draws up the most recent information on earthquakes, floods, and other natural disasters from 16 databases maintained by 11 world-famous research institutions, including the Asian Disaster Reduction Center and the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The data thus obtained is converted and displayed on a Google Earth map to generate hazard maps for each type of hazard, alongside up-to-date records of natural disasters.

These hazard evaluations culminate with an overall site evaluation by Shimizu experts, who assign the site one of four grades, based on three- to five-tier risk grades assigned by the system for each of seven risk areas. These grades are supplemented by expert observations and commentary, where appropriate. This entire process can be completed in a mere 30 minutes. Shimizu has already been awarded a construction project in Indonesia thanks to a proposal incorporating results from the Shimizu Global Hazard Evaluation System.

Shimizu plans to use this system to rapidly deliver highly standardized hazard evaluations to its clients and when necessary, to offer business continuity planning (BCP) solutions to expand orders awarded by global firms.

Reference

Shimizu Global Hazard Evaluation System
Examples of information displayed

Earthquake hazard map
(The Global Seismic Hazard
Assessment Program (GSHAP))

Lightning-strike frequency map (NASA)

Disaster Information
(Asian Disaster Reduction Center)

Information provided in this news release is current as of the date of publication. Please note that all such information is subject to change. Please feel free to contact us with any questions.

Back to List of News & Information

(in Japanese)