Gwangju City Establishes and Promotes 'Smart Flood Management System' with Remote Control of Floodgates

Gwangju City Hall

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 26th that it will promote a project to establish a smart flood management system capable of remote control for 52 sluices located in national rivers such as Yeongsan River, Hwangryong River, Gwangju Stream, and Jiseok Stream as part of strengthening flood response capabilities.

The smart flood management system is part of the Korean New Deal policy announced by the government last July. Until now, sluices have been managed by public officials manually controlling them on-site, which posed problems such as difficulty in timely deployment of personnel to widely distributed sluices during emergencies like floods on weekends and nights, leading to safety accidents and flood damage.

To resolve these issues, the latest Internet of Things (IOT) technology will be applied to sluice management by installing automatic water level gauges and CCTVs, enabling automatic opening and closing of sluices based on water level differences. The comprehensive control room will monitor the rivers in real time and remotely operate the sluices in emergencies.

The project is expected to cost 10 billion KRW, and the city plans to cover the entire cost with national funds, having secured 2.5 billion KRW for this year’s budget.

The city plans to finalize the project volume and total budget within this year through consultations with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and complete the project by next year.

Upon completion of this project, flood response capabilities will be significantly enhanced, allowing rapid sluice operation during sudden rises in river water levels caused by flash floods and heavy rainfalls, greatly contributing to protecting citizens’ lives and minimizing property damage.

Song Jin-nam, Director of the Water Circulation Policy Division of the city, said, “With the recent increase in localized heavy rains and typhoons due to abnormal climate, the introduction of this smart flood management system is expected to improve rapid disaster response and flood prevention effects. Gwangju City will continue to do its best to create a safe river environment by integrating artificial intelligence and IT technologies.”

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