Gwangju City Completes Baegun Overpass Demolition... Opening on December 1

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 27th that the demolition work of Baegun Overpass, which began on June 4, has been completed.

Baegun Overpass, which opened in November 1989 with a length of 385.8m, a width of 15.5m, and four lanes for two-way traffic, has served as the gateway to Nam-gu for 31 years.

However, due to distance issues between the Gyeongjeon Line railway section from Namgwangju Station to Hyochon Station and Baegun Square to Juwol Intersection, it was inevitably installed with a steep slope, causing many accidents every year. After the Gyeongjeon Line railway was relocated to Seogwangju Station in 2000, discussions about demolishing Baegun Overpass arose due to urban landscape damage and infringement on surrounding commercial areas.

Accordingly, Gwangju City carried out the demolition of Baegun Overpass in parallel with the Urban Railway Line 2 project to minimize double road excavation and citizen traffic inconvenience.

The demolition work involved about 1,900 personnel and approximately 800 vehicles including cranes, cutters, crushers, and trailers. After installing temporary facilities to prevent falling debris, the process proceeded in the order of demolishing the upper structures such as slabs, girders, and piers, followed by retaining walls and foundations.

The resulting waste amounted to about 11,300 tons, equivalent to approximately 460 25-ton trucks.

During the demolition, Gwangju City monitored traffic conditions around Baegun Square and coordinated with the National Police Agency and the Road Traffic Authority to minimize lane occupancy in the construction area by adjusting lanes and signal cycles at intersections around Baegun Square and implementing concurrent day and night construction.

Following road paving and lane painting work, the section will open on the 1st of next month.

Once the section from Baegun Square to Juwol Intersection opens, the existing six lanes for two-way traffic will increase to eleven lanes, which is expected to somewhat alleviate traffic congestion. With the demolition of Baegun Overpass completed, urban railway and underground road construction in this section will be promoted until 2023.

An Juhyun, Head of the Urban Railway Construction Headquarters Construction Department, said, “The construction was smoothly completed as citizens endured inconvenience during the demolition period and actively cooperated. We ask that you actively use detour roads during the Urban Railway Line 2 and underground road construction period as well.”

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