Gyeonggi-do Conducts 'Emergency Inspections' on 58 Bridges Rated C or Below

Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon is presiding over the department heads meeting on the 7th.

Gyeonggi Province will conduct emergency inspections on 58 bridges rated C or lower. Additionally, bridges rated C or lower managed by cities and counties, like the Seongnam Jeongja Bridge that recently collapsed, will also be inspected by the end of this month.

Since April 5, the day the Jeongja Bridge accident occurred, the Gyeonggi Provincial Construction Headquarters has been conducting emergency inspections on a total of 58 C-rated bridges within the province?37 in the southern region and 21 in the northern region. Furthermore, emergency inspections on C-rated or lower bridges managed by cities and counties, similar to Jeongja Bridge, are planned to be completed by April.

This emergency inspection follows the directive of Governor Kim Dong-yeon of Gyeonggi Province.

On April 5, Governor Kim posted on his social media (SNS), promising, "We will thoroughly investigate the cause to prevent similar accidents from occurring."

During this emergency inspection, the province will focus on checking for aging and damage of water pipes, gas pipelines, communication conduits, and other installations attached to the bridges in a clamp-like manner, which are suspected to be causes of the Jeongja Bridge accident.

According to the Special Act on the Safety and Maintenance of Facilities, bridges must undergo detailed inspections once every two years and regular inspections every six months. Among all bridges, local and national minor roads’ bridges are managed by Gyeonggi Province, while the rest are managed by cities and counties. Out of the 718 bridges managed by the province, 58 are rated C. There are no bridges rated D or E. In total, including those managed by the province and cities/counties, there are 4,856 bridges in the province.

At a meeting with department heads on April 7, Governor Kim stated, "The foremost priority of Gyeonggi Province’s administration is to protect the safety and lives of its residents," and added, "As the thawing season passes, I hope inspections are conducted proactively not only on bridges but also on multi-use facilities and roads to prevent accidents."

He also emphasized, "While residents will be attentive to how accidents are handled, they will also feel anxious about the accidents themselves. It is important to keep in mind that the first priority is to protect the safety and lives of the residents."

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