Gwangju City to Inspect Seismic Reinforcement of Public Convenience Facilities from 19th to 26th

55 Billion Won Budget Allocated... Targeting 80% Seismic Resistance Rate for Public Facilities

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 18th that it will conduct a public-private joint seismic reinforcement inspection of public convenience facilities from the 19th to the 26th.

This inspection targets 32 facilities, including 16 facilities such as Singa Library, gymnasium, bridges, and Happiness Welfare Center, where seismic reinforcement construction was completed last year, and 16 facilities where seismic performance evaluations were completed.

The city formed two teams of seven members and selected five private experts specializing in architectural and civil structural engineering from the Local Construction Technology Review Committee to conduct the inspection together.

The inspection teams will simultaneously review design documents, performance evaluation results, and conduct on-site inspections of construction status. The main inspection items include ▲ management status of seismic reinforcement projects ▲ verification of input status in the seismic reinforcement information management system ▲ review of the appropriateness of seismic performance evaluations ▲ review of the appropriateness of reinforcement designs.

If the inspection results show insufficient seismic reinforcement, the relevant departments and district offices will be immediately requested to prepare countermeasures and make improvements to ensure the safety of the facilities. If necessary, plans will be supplemented in collaboration with central government agencies such as the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

Additionally, through this inspection, any matters that need to be institutionally reflected by ordering agencies and construction companies involved in seismic reinforcement will be proposed to central government agencies. Exemplary cases and insufficient cases will be shared with ordering agencies and construction companies to prepare substantial and effective countermeasures.

Along with this, Gwangju City established the ‘2021 Seismic Reinforcement Measures for Public Facilities’ to minimize casualties and property damage among citizens.

The city has been promoting seismic reinforcement projects by annually reestablishing detailed execution plans for the corresponding year according to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s five-year basic plan for seismic reinforcement of existing public facilities.

This year, with a seismic reinforcement budget of 5.5 billion KRW, the city plans to carry out seismic performance evaluation services for 53 sites and seismic reinforcement construction for 12 sites, improving the seismic rate of public facilities by 6.3% and raising the target of 1,006 existing public facilities for seismic reinforcement to 80%.

As of the end of last year, Gwangju’s seismic reinforcement rate was 72.7%, which is higher than other metropolitan cities such as Busan at 72.3%, Incheon at 69.7%, and Daejeon at 65.7%.

Moon Beom-su, Director of the City’s Citizen Safety Office, said, “We will strive to expedite achieving a 100% seismic reinforcement rate by continuously promoting seismic reinforcement projects for public facilities so that citizens can use them with peace of mind. We also plan to do our best to ensure citizens’ safety from earthquakes by conducting earthquake evacuation education even in a non-face-to-face manner.”

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