Improving the safety of seawall evacuation staircases with our proprietary anti-icing design, “Triple Salchow®.”

Evacuation staircases installed on coastal seawalls are vital infrastructure that can save lives in disasters where every second counts. However, in cold regions, they faced a major challenge: freezing.
SEIKOH developed a new in-house tread shape that overturns conventional thinking and successfully met these stringent safety standards.

Conventional evacuation staircase treads had a problem in cold regions: a small amount of water would remain on the upper surface. When this water froze in severe cold, the slip-resistant performance that should have been provided could no longer function effectively. Eliminating this critical risk to safety during evacuation was the central theme of this project.

We fundamentally reexamined the structure of the treads.
After much trial and error, we devised a groundbreaking new shape that physically redirects water rather than allowing it to collect on the upper surface of the tread.
We named this unique anti-icing shape “Triple Salchow®” and obtained design rights for it due to its novelty and usefulness.

Rather than simply presenting an idea verbally, we proposed this to the customer as proven technology backed by design rights. We also conducted slip-resistance testing to ensure a high level of safety. As a result, the product received strong evaluations for its slip-resistant performance and was officially adopted. Because this infrastructure is exposed to harsh natural environments, there is no room for compromise. To deliver products that everyone can use safely and with confidence in moments of emergency, SEIKOH will continue to respond through technological development that transcends existing boundaries.