Gyeonggi-do to Conduct Emergency Safety Inspections of Road Structures and Multi-use Facilities Until the End of April

by Lee YeongKyu

Published 11 Apr.2023 10:43(KST)

Gyeonggi Provincial Government Gwanggyo New Office Building

Gyeonggi Province will conduct an emergency safety inspection of major road structures, construction sites, and multi-use facilities within the province from the 11th to the 30th of this month.

To identify and resolve disaster and accident risk factors in advance, the province decided to expand the comprehensive inspection of C-grade bridges, which has been underway since the 5th following the 'Bundang Jeongja Bridge accident.'

This inspection will be conducted jointly by the province, city and county governments, related organizations including the Korea Gas Safety Corporation, and private experts from the Gyeonggi Province Construction Technology Review Committee.

The inspection targets are urgent subjects to be inspected within approximately three weeks according to standards for each facility, such as the 58 C-grade bridges identified among the total 718 bridges managed by the province.

The overall status of facilities in the province includes ▲ 826 road structures (718 bridges, 27 tunnels, 7 underpasses, 15 retaining walls, 6 pedestrian overpasses, 53 cut slopes) ▲ 34 construction sites (23 road construction sites, 11 building construction sites) ▲ 89 multi-use facilities (Gyeonggi Provincial Government New Office Building, Suwon World Cup Stadium, etc.).

For road structures, the province will inspect aging conditions and seismic performance; for construction sites, fire and suffocation prevention measures and safety measures against toppling and falling; and for multi-use facilities, major structural cracks, leaks, and corrosion.

Separately from this emergency inspection, from the 17th of this month to June 16th, the province will conduct a focused safety inspection of about 2,000 safety-vulnerable facilities such as buildings and industrial construction sites in connection with the 'Korea Safety Transformation Gyeonggi Province Intensive Safety Inspection.' The inspection targets were determined by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety considering recent accident status and public opinions.

On the 10th, Oh Byung-kwon, the First Deputy Governor of Gyeonggi Province, held a 'Jeongja Bridge Pedestrian Collapse Related Issue Meeting' with related department heads and emphasized, "This accident has increased citizens' anxiety about bridges, roads, and multi-use facilities. The province will identify the safety status of major facilities to ensure safe daily life, preemptively resolve disaster and accident risk factors, and take follow-up measures on pointed issues."

Meanwhile, on the day of the Jeongja Bridge accident, the 5th, Governor Kim Dong-yeon instructed an emergency inspection of the 58 C-grade bridges managed by the Gyeonggi Provincial Construction Headquarters.