NIPPO

A plant company with close capital and personnel ties to NIPPO Corporation supplied asphalt mixture used for asphalt paving work on the 2022 Road 54 Kamihuno pavement repair project ordered by the Sangi River National Highway Office to the project contractor. The contract documents specified the use of asphalt mixture with new aggregate, and the contractor also designated this type to the plant company. Although the plant company reported that the supplied asphalt mixture met the specifications in the design documents, an investigation revealed that the asphalt mixture delivered differed from those specifications.

The operator used recycled aggregate asphalt mixture instead of the specified new aggregate asphalt mixture in construction projects ordered by various regional bureaus and the Tokyo Aeronautical Bureau. Despite contractual specifications requiring the use of new aggregate asphalt, investigations revealed that the operator's affiliated plant shipped recycled aggregate asphalt mixtures labeled as new asphalt mixtures without prior consultation with the client. The operator's affiliated plant failed to take appropriate measures to prevent this, despite being aware of the potential inclusion of recycled materials. Additionally, the affiliated plant supplied asphalt mixtures to multiple projects, knowingly including recycled aggregate asphalt mixtures and mislabeling them as new asphalt mixtures, due to close capital and personnel ties with the operator. The operator did not take necessary actions to ensure proper management and compliance with specifications.