Damages and restoration of Daikai Station of Kobe Rapid Transit Railway

Daikai Station of Kobe Rapid Transit Railway was seriously damaged due to the 1995 Hyogoken Nambu Earthquake, i.e. nearly all the intermediate columns on the track floor were collapsed, the ceiling slab bent and fell down, and a part of the national road immediately above the premises settled. Collapse of Daikai Station was a shocking incident that had never experienced with underground structures in Japan. From the lessons learned from the great destruction, it is considered a thing of utmost urgency to review the quake-proof structure design for underground structures, to establish a method of evaluating the seismic resistance of existing underground structures and their rational reinforcing method, and to take prompt countermeasures.