Readers will remember that I blogged last year about the brilliant underground bike parking system made by the Japanese at Nishi-Kasai Station in Edogawa, Tokyo. I just happened to discover a cool video from Japanese news broadcaster Newsline which details how one of these these automated parking systems, called Eco Cycle, was designed & constructed and the machines which were employed in the process. This really looks to have been a neat little civil engineering project for the developers - Giken Seisakusho Group.
A picture of Giken's 'Silent Piling Machine' which takes prefabricated structural piles and presses them into the ground at high pressure without vibration and excessive noise. Courtesy Giken.
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Small detail; I think you are referring to the Kasai underground bike parking. Nishi-kasai is one station west from Kasai. Its underground bike parking is not automated. This said, while Kasai is Japan's largest bicycle parking facility in Japan, Nishi-kasai is the second. There are lots of bicycles in Edogawa-ku!
ReplyDeletePretty stinkin' cool if you ask me. I had seen it before, but that video made things clearer about how it works... thanks!
ReplyDelete1GAE : Ooops. Did I get my details wrong? Which bike parking station is shown in the video then? If Nishi Kasai does have an underground bike parking, how is it not automated. Are you saying its not ready yet or its not meant to be automated at all? Let me know which station is shown in the video, as I'd like to make corrections if its the case. The video doesn't say much in that respect.
ReplyDeleteI madew a correction. I justed used the word 'Tokyo' generally. Not positive which station this is. Sorry for the error.
ReplyDeleteRon: the parking facilicity in Nishi-kasai is underground, but users have to manually put their bicycles on the racks-no buttons or bicycles disappearing in large underground barrels there. I'm a daily user of Kasai's automated bike parking and I've posted a few videos on youtube http://www.youtube.com/1GAE. Maybe when I have time I can go to Nishi-kasai's parking facility and shoot a few videos there. It's not as spectacular, but it's still better than what most cities have.
ReplyDeleteAs for the video you've included in your post, I don't know which bike parking it refers to, but it's not in Edogawa-ku.
1GAE : Alright. Then its somewhere in Tokyo for sure. Do find out if you can.
ReplyDeleteSo what happens to the piles after the construction is over? Does it get removed or become part of the structure itself?
ReplyDelete1GAE : I hear its the Kasai Station in Edogawa area of Tokyo.
ReplyDeleteThis is what the Edogawa-ku, Kasai station automatic bicycle parking facility looks like:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7uJm3O1Z-Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttyGS4HpgsE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MG5Buujlrbg&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtzMHd2P3BE&feature=related
Hi, I live in Kasai.
ReplyDeleteI heard this parking system is in Hirai station in Edogawa-ku on JR line.