Dam Management with Advanced Technologies like Drones and AI... Jomyeongrae Urges "Become a Flagship Case of the Green New Deal"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] Starting from the second half of this year, unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) will be actively introduced for dam safety inspections. By 2025, advanced technologies such as digital twins?a three-dimensional virtual space?and artificial intelligence (AI) will be utilized to repair, reinforce, and enhance the safety of dams.

The Ministry of Environment announced on the 6th that, as part of the Green New Deal policy, it is promoting the establishment of a 'Smart Dam Safety Management System,' with 1.312 billion KRW allocated in the third supplementary budget for drone purchase costs. The project, running through 2025, will receive a total government fund of 106.1 billion KRW.

On the same day, Minister of Environment Cho Myung-rae visited the Daecheong Dam in Daejeon for a national safety diagnosis site and received an explanation on safety inspection methods using drones. This intelligent safety inspection method involves capturing video footage of the dam’s condition with drones and then rendering it into three-dimensional graphics to examine any damage to the dam structure, such as the walls.

Previously, when personnel inspected the dam by descending the dam structure using work ropes and visually checking for defects, access to certain areas was difficult. With drones, these hard-to-reach areas can now be inspected more thoroughly.

Minister Cho also received a report from the Korea Water Resources Corporation on the overall smart safety management system that inspects dam abnormalities using digital twin and AI technologies. A digital twin is a virtual representation of machines and equipment in the real world within a computer, used to identify and resolve potential problems that may occur in reality.

The digital twin, scheduled to be established starting next year, will accumulate and input drone inspection photos and video data. Once such big data is accumulated, AI can be used to check for abnormalities in the dam.

With the introduction of these advanced technologies, proactive repair and reinforcement of dams will be possible, enhancing crisis response capabilities. The performance of aging dams will improve, allowing them to be operated safely for a long time.

A 'Dam Safety Management Center' (tentative name) dedicated to dam safety inspection and management within the Water Resources Corporation will also be established to manage dam infrastructure more systematically.

Minister Cho Myung-rae urged, "Please ensure the smooth implementation of the smart dam safety management system to strengthen crisis response capabilities," and added, "Do your best to pioneer the introduction of advanced technologies in dam safety inspections so that this can become a representative case of the Green New Deal."

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