KUMAMOTO, Japan - Repairs to a section of an expressway in the southwestern Japan prefecture of Kumamoto damaged by a powerful earthquake in July will take at least two years, the road's operator said Monday.
The magnitude-7.1 temblor damaged a joint on one of the bridge girders of the Minami-Kyushu Expressway in Yatsushiro, creating a 1-meter height difference between sections of the road surface.
West Nippon Expressway Co. examined multiple restoration methods and concluded that it will take at least two years to complete the work and reopen the closed section.
The damage occurred between the expressway's Yatsushiro junction and Yatsushiro-Minami exit.
The death toll from the July 28 quake stood at 38, with over 42,000 homes damaged.
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