DEVASTATING JOLT IN JAPAN : Rebuilding Will Be Lengthy : Doubts Remain on Foreign Access to Construction Work

The promised opening of Japan’s construction industry to greater participation by foreign firms will be put to the test in the massive effort that will be needed to rebuild earthquake-devastated areas of the country.

Untold billions of dollars worth of repairs will be needed on damaged expressways, bridges and train lines as well as on thousands of buildings in or near Kobe, Japan’s sixth-largest city, which was struck by a severe earthquake early Tuesday.

Last year, responding to domestic construction scandals and intense pressure from the United States, Japan approved an “action plan” to open major public works projects to foreign contractors. The plan, which largely defused tension between Washington and Tokyo on the construction issue, takes full effect April 1.

But strong doubts remain about whether the reforms will prove effective in significantly increasing the foreign share of Japan’s construction market. Post-quake rebuilding projects may prove especially problematic.

“I sincerely hope . . . that rehabilitation and restoration work will start quickly,” Yoshihiro Sakamoto, vice minister for international affairs at the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, said at a news conference Tuesday.

“I appreciate the fact that foreign business could assist us,” he said. “But it is difficult for me to say what we can expect of foreign enterprises at the present moment.”

An enormous amount of work must be done to restore normalcy to the Kobe area. Elevated parts of two expressways collapsed at nine locations, including one section nearly half a mile long. Many bridges were also destroyed. Nine elevated sections of bullet train tracks heading west from Osaka crashed to the ground.

It will take about a year to fully repair the expressways and at least three months to resume normal bullet train service, officials said.

Construction Ministry officials said Wednesday that quake-resistance standards for highway construction will be toughened in response to the quake that killed more than 3,000 people. That in itself could lead to projects all across Japan to retrofit bridges for greater earthquake resistance, a field in which U.S. firms have considerable experience.

Japanese news media reported Wednesday that analysts were predicting that $10 billion to $30 billion in bonds will be issued by Japan’s central and local governments to finance the reconstruction.

The government’s construction industry action plan promises the adoption of “transparent, objective and open competitive procurement procedures” for projects that meet size requirements. Discrimination against foreign firms is supposed to be banned.

The requirements may be waived, however, “for reasons of urgency,” a factor that might apply to some of the reconstruction in Kobe.

Masaharu Sakuta, an analyst at the Japan Research Institute, said he expects that foreign firms will win some reconstruction contracts. “But in reality, it is difficult for foreign companies to actually do construction work in Japan,” he said.

William Mahr, Tokyo branch manager for Fluor Daniel Inc., the huge California-based construction company, said Wednesday that because of telecommunications problems caused by the earthquake, his office had not yet been able to establish telephone contact with employees working on current projects in Osaka, adjacent to Kobe.

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Times researcher Megumi Shimizu in Tokyo contributed to this report.