NTT East will conduct research in collaboration with the University of Tokyo’s Institute of Industrial Science, Kajima Corporation, Tokyo Metropolitan Government Bureau of Sewerage, and Tokyo Metropolitan Sewerage Service (TGS).
The purpose of the research is to establish an underground cavity detection model using sensing technology with optical fiber cables. Specifically, by using underground optical fiber cables for communication and optical fiber cables for sewerage, and constructing and evaluating a model that detects abnormalities from changes in the ground vibration characteristics captured by optical fiber cables, it will be made clear that optical fiber can detect abnormalities that occur underground at a depth of 2 meters or more.
Currently, road collapses due to damage to buried pipes and other factors exceed 10,000 cases per year, making this a major social issue.
Electromagnetic wave radar exploration is commonly used as a technology to detect the occurrence of underground cavities that cause road collapses, but it is difficult to find underground cavities at a depth of 2 meters or more, so there is a demand for technology to detect large cavities deep underground that could lead to human casualties at an early stage.

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