Sogi Power Plant

In December 2014, CyArk partnered with geopositioning manufacturer Topcon to document the Sogi Power Plant. The site was selected for digital preservation by Japan’s National Congress of Industrial Heritage in collaboration with the Japanese government to acknowledge the site’s importance to the history of Japan. The data CyArk collects was used to monitor the extent of damage caused by the periodic flooding of the site and has helped with long term conservation planning. This work was also used as part of the effort to nominate Sogi Power Plant as a UNESCO Industrial Heritage Site.

The Sogi Power Plant continued to supply electricity to the surrounding area until 1965, when the Tsuruda Dam was built downstream. The new dam was mainly built to prevent flooding, but its large power generation led to it replacing the Sogi Power Plant as the region’s supplier of electricity. As a consequence of this new construction, the river behind the Tsuruda Dam rises during the rainy season, submerging the Sogi Power Plant for months each year. The continuous flooding has taken its toll on the Sogi Power Plant and conservationists continuously struggle to combat collapsing walls and other forms of water damage.