Even with a Decadal Heavy Snowfall, Seoul City Is Fully Prepared

Disaster Safety Countermeasures Headquarters Operating for Two Months
24-Hour Surveillance via 786 CCTV Cameras
Automatic Liquid Deicing Agent Spraying
Four Additional Snow Melting Devices Introduced

At the Situation Room on the 3rd basement floor of Seoul City Hall, a sign monitoring officer is monitoring the conditions of major roads in Seoul in real time through CCTV footage. (Provided by Seoul City)

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-joo] The Seoul Metropolitan Government's Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, which operates 24 hours a day to prepare for sudden heavy snowfall, has marked two months since its activation. The headquarters monitors information coming from 786 CCTVs installed across roads on 21 monitors until March 15. Although heavy snow has not yet fallen significantly in Seoul this winter, the situation room remains on high alert. Typically, heavy snowfall occurs every 10 years, with 25.8 cm of snow accumulating during the winter between 2009 and 2010.

According to Seoul City on the 14th, 400 million KRW will be spent this year to introduce automatic snowfall detection devices at four additional locations. First introduced last year, these devices use intelligent sensors to detect snowfall and automatically spray liquid de-icing agents. Previously, the situation room monitored snowfall in real-time and remotely operated the brine system. With the introduction of automatic snowfall detection devices, it is possible to prevent heavy snowfall damage even during early morning hours or moments that staff might miss.

The total road sections managed by autonomous districts, the Road Business Office, and the Seoul Facilities Corporation, including Seoul City, amount to 8,217 km. This distance is equivalent to traveling back and forth between Seoul and Busan 17 times. Once full-scale snow removal begins, it is also possible to check how many vehicles are working or moving on all roads in Seoul.

Fifteen additional fixed liquid de-icing agent spraying devices were installed last year. Mobile liquid de-icing agent spraying devices, installed at 477 locations across 23 districts, respond first to side roads before snow removal vehicles arrive when snow falls suddenly. This effectively shortens snow removal time. These devices can be remotely operated via the situation room monitors. Eleven additional roads with heating cables were added, bringing the total to 27 in operation.

The automatic liquid de-icer being sprayed (Provided by Seoul City)

More than 23,000 snow removal boxes are managed more densely without blind spots, and installation areas are being expanded. Sensors attached inside the snow removal boxes wirelessly transmit their location and remaining amount, allowing real-time confirmation through an application. This system is currently being piloted in Gangbuk-gu and the Western Road Business Office jurisdiction.

Seoul uses about 18,000 tons of de-icing agents during winter. Mainly calcium chloride and salt are used, but they have side effects such as corroding concrete and adversely affecting plants near roads. Accordingly, Seoul is expanding the use of eco-friendly certified de-icing agents. From 10% in 2014, the plan is to use eco-friendly certified de-icing agents up to 20% this year.

The key to snow removal is initial response and sharing on-site information. Senior officials at the team leader level or higher in autonomous districts maintain communication networks by sharing data in real-time through social networking services (SNS). Choi Yeon-woo, head of the Seoul Road Management Team, said, "We will make our best efforts to safely get through this year without major accidents by utilizing snow removal devices and control systems that use the Internet of Things (IoT) and other technologies."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.