Japanese builder's methods mean faster, cheaper bridges in Asia

Kochi Marutaka puts up infrastructure in mountainous areas, drawing limelight

Bridge built by Kochi Marutaka in Pakistan 20200428175731990_Data.jpg

Kochi Marutaka, an infrastructure builder based in Kochi, Japan, has impressed potential clients in Asia with projects such as widening a 380 meter stretch of road in a mountainous region in Pakistan.

KEN HOTAI, Nikkei staff writer

May 10, 2020 15:07 JST

KOCHI, Japan -- Kochi Marutaka takes on jobs that might give others pause, putting up bridges along mountain cliff faces in Asia, for example.

The engineering company based in the southwestern Japanese city of Kochi uses a unique construction method in which girders are extended while suspended in the air without the need for scaffolding, cutting costs by some 30% compared with conventional techniques.