Run and You'll Be Chased | A Slope Engineer's On-Site Philosophy
Hello, everyone. This is Enta. We suddenly had to take the basic exam, lol. The thing is, we’d already conducted a geological survey, so we were planning to use that data to install ground anchors. But then, due to land use restrictions, we were instructed not to install ground anchors on private property…
Found a Great Product! Scales | Weighing Instruments
Hello, everyone. This is Enta. I imagine you use scales when weighing fairly heavy objects on-site. What kind of scales do you use? I’m guessing they look something like this, right? Most of them are platform scales, aren’t they? However, these scales are ridiculously expensive…
Review of the Toyo Koken Slope Walker NT-4R | Weight and Installation Challenges
Hello, everyone. This is Enta. I tried out the slope walker made by Toyo Koken that I introduced a while back! Here it is. You drive the anchor into the ground to set up the slope walker. Then, you create a wire line using single-wall pipes. The wire gets caught in weird places…
Guidelines for Rock Crushing | Risk Management in Slope Construction
Hello, everyone. This is Enta. The other day, I was putting together a roster of Vietnamese workers. There were so many names that I couldn’t tell them apart. Names are tricky, aren’t they? Even in Japan, people with so-called “flashy names” seem to have a hard time—we’ve reached a point where some who face difficulties in daily life are even changing their names…
A Balanced Approach to the Information Deluge | Gathering Information in the Age of Social Media
Hello, everyone. This is Enta. The world is overflowing with talk of COVID-19, COVID-19, and more COVID-19. While I keep up with all kinds of information, I try to avoid getting my news from TV. Do any of you watch TV? I generally don’t watch TV myself, mainly because so much of the information is driven by commercial interests…
The Fun Lies Beyond the Thrills and Excitement | The Joys of Slope Construction
Hello, everyone. This is Enta. Here’s a look at my final inspection records! That’s me 18 years ago, lol. It says “August, Heisei 14,” so that’s 2002. I was a super young 26-year-old back then. Around that time, I used to get incredibly nervous during inspections. I’d have my seniors and supervisors check the documents I’d prepared…
The Thrill of Drainage Drilling | The Appeal of Slope Stabilization
Hello, everyone. This is Enta. Drainage drilling is something the general public doesn’t often get to see. The same goes for collection wells, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a slope stabilization contractor who doesn’t perform drainage drilling. The real thrill of performing drainage drilling is, of course, hitting the aquifer…
"Don't Get Infected, Don't Spread It" Campaign | Infection Control Measures in the Construction Industry
Hello, everyone. This is Enta. Construction sites run by major general contractors are coming to a standstill. What’s going to happen to us small and medium-sized contractors!? For small companies like ours, a halt in work would be a disaster. In the worst-case scenario, we’d be headed straight for bankruptcy. To prevent that from happening…
Making Tools and Having Fun on the Job | The Ingenuity of Slope Workers
Hello, everyone. This is Enta. The other day, I used a milling machine for the first time. It looks something like this—it’s a machine that mills flat surfaces with a precision of 1/100. I used it because I wanted to give a stainless steel nipple of the same diameter a flat finish. To cut the threaded portion…