"Continuing to Challenge Natural Disasters, a Safe and Secure Future for All" - The Dream of Vertex Group

Vertex Corporation endorses April Dream, an initiative to share dreams on April 1st. This press release represents the dream of the "Vertex Group."

Vertex Corporation (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, President and Representative Director: Yuzuru Yamamoto) aims to share the dream of "Continuing to challenge natural disasters, and creating a safe and secure future for all people" through this activity. As a company that supports social infrastructure, we will work towards building a disaster-resilient social foundation.

The Background to Wanting to Realize This Dream

Japan has experienced numerous natural disasters, including earthquakes, typhoons, heavy rains, and landslides. In recent years, influenced by climate change, disasters have become more severe and frequent, increasingly impacting people's lives and local communities.

In this context, the importance of preparing for disasters on a daily basis and minimizing damage, rather than just responding after they occur, has become more critical than ever.

As a company supporting social infrastructure, the Vertex Group has provided products and technologies that underpin people's lives for many years. What we value is not simply delivering products. It is about creating towns where people can live with peace of mind, supporting the future of communities, and passing on safety and security to the next generation. This sentiment is the origin of the dream our group upholds.

Rainwater storage tank to protect towns and homes from flood damage

Protective fences to safeguard lives from rockfalls and collapsing earth

Vertex Group's Products and Technologies for Realizing the Dream

Our group offers a diverse range of products and technologies in the fields of disaster prevention and mitigation, national resilience, and infrastructure development such as roads and rivers. Our technologies are utilized in various situations, including flood control products for heavy rains and floods, seismic resistance and disaster prevention products that reduce earthquake damage, and products that protect people's lives from disasters caused by rockfalls and collapsing earth from slopes.

These products may not be conspicuous in everyday life. However, they protect our cities and support people's lives in unseen ways.

We would like to introduce two of our group's products and technologies.

Spiral Hole: Assembled Manhole for High Drop Applications

The first is the "Spiral Hole," a product for heavy rainfall disaster countermeasures.

In recent years, increased rainfall has led to cases where underground waterways buried near the surface cannot handle the volume of rainwater. One measure being promoted is the development of deep underground river channels. However, introducing rainwater into these channels presented numerous challenges, including ensuring flow rate, preventing noise, and maintenance.

In response to these challenges, we developed the "Spiral Hole," which utilizes our unique technology to smoothly guide water while making it swirl. This product not only efficiently directs surface rainwater to underground river channels but also features a spiral staircase within the main body, allowing maintenance personnel safe and easy access to the underground river channels. It is currently adopted in over 200 locations nationwide, with a Spiral Hole approximately 50 meters deep installed in one location in Tokyo. Such technologies play a part in heavy rainfall countermeasures in urban areas, supporting people's safe lives in unseen ways.

Maintenance and inspection of fire water tanks

The second is the technology for "maintenance of fire water tanks," essential for fire suppression during disasters.

Fire water tanks are not only a valuable water source for initial firefighting during fires or when hydrants are unusable, but they also serve as an important facility that can be used as domestic water during disasters. Their usefulness has been re-recognized through events like the Noto Peninsula Earthquake and the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake.

Our company provided the precast fire water tank "HC Type Fire Water Tank," which received the first type approval from the Japan Fire Equipment Inspection Corporation in 1984. However, it is estimated that there are approximately 150,000 fire water tanks in Japan that have exceeded 50 years since installation, and many of them are still in use. These fire water tanks may not function adequately if not properly maintained.

Therefore, we have developed proprietary maintenance technology that inspects and diagnoses aging fire water tanks, enabling them to withstand earthquakes and function as fire water tanks capable of storing sufficient water in emergencies. Our group continues to pursue the ideal form of infrastructure that is truly useful to society while ensuring the sustainability of social infrastructure.

Moving forward, the Vertex Group will continue to share the dream of "Facing natural disasters and creating a safe and secure future for all people" through products and technologies that support social infrastructure, and will work towards building a disaster-resilient social foundation.