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Urban Water Resilience Lab
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A lab that prepares cities for disasters in which earthquakes, tsunamis, and floods occur together.
AboutAbout the lab
Predicting and reducing compound disasters in cities
The Urban Water Resilience Lab studies technologies to predict compound urban disasters in which floods, earthquakes, and tsunamis occur together, and to reduce the damage they cause.
Cities that have grown on low-lying land along coasts and rivers are constantly exposed to the risk of water-related disasters.
The lab investigates phenomena in which structures and water flow affect each other, using experiments and numerical analysis.
It also works on design methods for structures that can withstand extreme disasters, as well as performance evaluation and maintenance.
Key terms
- Seismic isolation
- A technology that reduces earthquake shaking by placing a device between a building or bridge and the ground that makes it harder for vibration to pass through
- Real-time hybrid simulation
- An experimental method in which only part of a structure is shaken on a testing device, the rest is calculated numerically, and the two are linked simultaneously
- Rubber bearing
- A rubber device placed between a bridge girder and its pier that absorbs earthquake vibration
ResearchResearch themes
The lab evaluates safety against disasters such as floods, earthquakes, and tsunamis in cities built on low-lying land along coasts and rivers, and develops engineering countermeasures to minimize damage. Its research covers experiments and numerical evaluation of the interaction between fluids and structures, as well as the design and maintenance of facilities.
*Illustrative imageFloating seismic isolation: keeping structures afloat to prevent shaking
As an earthquake countermeasure for critical plant facilities, floating seismic isolation systems, in which a structure floats in an artificial pool, are being considered. The lab studies a rational method for evaluating how the dimensions of the floating body and the pool affect the way the structure shakes and how effective the isolation is.
*Illustrative imageDeveloping devices that suppress bridge vibration
The lab studies seismic isolation and vibration control devices that efficiently reduce or absorb the earthquake energy transmitted to bridges and other structures. It develops devices that can be used not only for new bridges but also for the seismic retrofitting of existing ones, and verifies their performance.
*Illustrative imageModeling the behavior of seismic isolation rubber bearings
The performance of the high-damping rubber bearings used for seismic isolation changes depending on factors such as how force is applied and the temperature. The lab develops a model that accounts for the heat generated inside the bearing when it absorbs vibration and how that heat spreads, and uses simulations to examine its effect on performance.
*Illustrative imageVerification that links experiments and computation simultaneously
Because it is difficult to test a large structure in its entirety, the lab builds real-time hybrid simulation systems in which only the parts that govern the vibration are shaken on a testing device, the rest is calculated numerically, and the two are linked simultaneously. It uses these systems to verify the performance of the testing equipment.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Urban Water Resilience Lab consist of faculty, part-time researchers, secretaries, students in the doctoral program (including working professionals), the master's program, and the undergraduate program, and research students.As of 2026
- ProfessorAkira Igarashi
- Associate ProfessorNozomu Yoneyama
VoicesStudent voices
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Pole 3 building seismic base isolator” Marshelec / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Floating seismic isolation: keeping structures afloat to prevent shaking: “Floating aquaculture in Puget Sound 01” Joe Mabel / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Developing devices that suppress bridge vibration: “Tokaido Shinkansen Seismic retrofit 17” Dr.yellow / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Modeling the behavior of seismic isolation rubber bearings: “Seismic isolation in Egekent IzBAN station” Ayratayrat / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Verification that links experiments and computation simultaneously: “UCSD-JacobsSchool-20221130-Shake Table-Tallwood-03012-8MP” Jacobs School of Engineering / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Fundamentals of Seismic Resistance Lab): “Post-and-Grant-Avenue-Look” Chadwick, H. D / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Disaster Risk Management Lab): “USAID supports community-based disaster drill in Nam Dinh province ( )” USAID Vietnam / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Geofront Systems Engineering Lab): “Blue Spring Cavern Underground River Tour” Jim Vajda / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Hydrology and Water Resources Lab): “Leh-Manali Highway, Basin, Ladakh, India” Vyacheslav Argenberg / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
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