Busan City to Put an End to Underground Tunnel Flooding Accidents

Establishment of 'Smart Underground Passage Vehicle Blocking System' in All Flood-Prone Areas
Emergency Injection of 3 Billion KRW from City and National Funds ... Installation of Remote Vehicle Blockers

Smart underground passage vehicle blocking system installed in underground passages in Busan city.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] A ‘smart system’ to create accident-free underground passages in areas of frequent flooding in Busan city will be established.

Busan City announced on the 9th that it has decided to install a ‘smart underground passage vehicle blocking system’ in all underground passages in the city that are at risk of flooding, to fundamentally resolve the flooding damage such as that at the Choryang underground passage during the heavy rain on the 23rd of last month.

After conducting a full survey of underground passages subject to flooding, the city urgently applied for national funds (special grants) from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on the 24th of last month. It secured 500 million KRW in national funds to build a smart vehicle blocking system at the Choryang 1st underground passage where an accident occurred on the 5th.

Among the total 48 underground passages in the Busan area surveyed by the city, 29 were identified as at risk of flooding, excluding 19 with good drainage. The city plans to install the smart underground passage vehicle blocking system in 21 locations, excluding 8 where blocking systems are already installed.

Once the smart system is installed, the existing system that manually controlled vehicles will be improved so that dangerous situations are automatically detected and remotely controlled even without personnel on duty.

This system is linked with underground passage water level gauges and automatically activates warning signboards, flashing lights, and warning broadcasts, with the blocking device remotely operated as the final step.

Busan City expects that 3 billion KRW will be required to establish the system in 21 underground passages. Accordingly, the city plans to immediately invest city funds (special grants) and support 2.5 billion KRW excluding the secured 500 million KRW in national funds, aiming to complete the system installation within this year.

During the system construction period, Busan City plans to assign dedicated personnel to each underground passage to respond promptly to disasters such as heavy rain. Once the smart underground passage vehicle blocking system is completed, it is expected to prevent damage such as vehicle flooding caused by heavy rain.