Koken Boring Machine Co., Ltd.

Koken Boring Machine Co., Ltd. is a Japanese company based in Tokyo that designs, manufactures and sells boring machines and also carries out engineering and construction work for underground development. Its business areas include hot-spring development, groundwater, environmental works, large-diameter rock drilling, geothermal utilization and overseas projects. The company traces its origins to 1946, when Koken-sha was founded in Fukuoka, and it was renamed Koken Boring Machine Co., Ltd. in 1987.

The company's history page states that in 1946 (Showa 21) Koken-sha (有限会社鉱研舎) was founded in Fukuoka City. In 1947 the organization was changed to a joint-stock company and renamed Koken Suisho Kogyo Co., Ltd. (鉱研試錐工業株式会社). In 1948 the head office was moved to Meguro-ku, Tokyo, and a large boring machine for coal resource surveys was developed and delivered to mines including the Mitsui Miike coal mine. In 1949 the company developed Japan's first high-speed rotary boring machine, the "KB Drill". In 1952 it delivered an OE-type hydraulic boring machine to the Tokyo Metropolitan Waterworks Bureau for the Ogouchi Dam construction, and delivered a high-speed boring machine to the Sakuma Dam, entering the civil engineering and construction industry in earnest. In 1958 it developed the world's first seabed boring machine and began surveys of undersea coalfields, and developed the first unit of the MG grout pump series. In 1959 it delivered Japan's first central mixing plant to the Kansai Electric Power Kurobe No. 4 Dam construction site. In 1964 it developed Japan's first all-hydraulic horizontal boring machine, used for Tokyo subway construction. In 1967 it developed and delivered the remote-controlled seabed boring machine "Marine Drill" for installation on the University of Tokyo's ocean research vessel "Hakuhō Maru", and developed Japan's first large-diameter rock drilling machine "Bigman BM-1". In 1968 it built the Atsugi Plant in the Atsugi inland industrial park in Kanagawa Prefecture. In 1969 it developed the world's largest 5,000 m-class horizontal boring machine "FS-400" for pilot boring of the Seikan Tunnel and delivered it to the Japan Railway Construction Public Corporation. In 1971 it developed the "Bigman N Series" large-diameter rock drilling machine. In 1972, jointly with the Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Authority, it developed the world's largest floating-mixing prepact mixer "MX-3300" and delivered it for Honshu-Shikoku bridge construction. In 1973 it developed the ultra-high-pressure grout pump "PG Pump" and opened its first overseas base, a Singapore office (later the Singapore branch). In 1975 it developed Japan's first all-hydraulic rotary percussion drill "Aro Drill RPD-1", and developed the long horizontal boring machine "BED-100" adopting a new method (circulating water pressurization) for Seikan Tunnel pilot boring, delivering it to the Japan Railway Construction Public Corporation. In 1977 it developed the upward blind boring machine "UPB-75" for upward shaft excavation, developed the Aro Drill "RPD-65" which triggered the spread of anchor methods in Japan, and developed the Bigman machine building "RBB-100". In 1978 it developed the seabed boring machine Marine Drill "MD-500", delivered to the then Agency of Industrial Science and Technology's Metal Mining Agency and installed on the ocean survey vessel Hakurei Maru; it also developed the ice drill "MID-140", delivered to the then Ministry of Education's Polar Research Institute and used by Antarctic observation teams. In 1981 it opened the Koken Technical Training Center in Shiojiri Highland, Shinshu. In 1982 it moved its head office from Meguro-ku to Nakano-ku, spun off its maintenance division to establish wholly owned Koken Machine Service Co., Ltd., developed the fully automatic batching plant "Captain", and developed the down-the-hole drill "DD-10". In 1984 it delivered Aro Drills and a train-type grout injection plant to the then Soviet Union for BAM railway tunnel construction, and completed the computer-controlled seabed boring Marine Drills "MDC-200/10" and "MDC-100/100AH" and cylindrical seabed geological survey boring equipment, delivered to the then Soviet Union for Sakhalin offshore oil fields. In 1985 it jointly developed the G-NKK long-distance propulsion method and dedicated machine "FS-120" with Nippon Kokan and Tokyo Gas, and jointly developed the computer-controlled boring robot "ADS-15" with Tokyo Electric Power; on the occasion of its 40th anniversary it changed its company name to Koken Boring Machine Co., Ltd. (鉱研工業株式会社). In 1988 it built the Koken Technical Training Center in Shiojiri Highland, Shinshu, and opened the mini earth science museum "Geo Geo" there. The history page continues into the Heisei era (1991) with a Mars exploration entry that is truncated in the available evidence.

Top manufacturer of boring machines and an engineering company handling underground development engineering and construction.

• KB Drill

• Bigman BM-1 / Bigman N Series

• Marine Drill (MD-500, MDC-200/10, MDC-100/100AH)

• Aro Drill (RPD-1, RPD-65)

• PG Pump

• Captain

1. 1鉱研工業株式会社koken-boring.co.jp
2. 2ヒストリー - 鉱研工業株式会社koken-boring.co.jp
3. 3鉱研工業について - 鉱研工業株式会社koken-boring.co.jp
4. 4会社情報 - 鉱研工業株式会社koken-boring.co.jp
5. 5Koken Boring Machine Co., Ltd. (Japan)wikidata.org