'Untrustworthy' Wooden Decks on Walking Trails... Gyeonggi-do Catches 60 Sites with Damage Neglect

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Although the installation of wooden deck facilities for the convenience of users is increasing on walking trails along the coast, rivers, and parks in Gyeonggi Province, it has been revealed that the safety of residents is being threatened due to poor construction of major structural parts or damage to safety railings.

Gyeonggi Province conducted a safety inspection from March to May on deck facilities along 24 walking trails in 13 cities and counties, and on the 9th announced that a total of 60 cases were detected, including ▲ construction differing from design documents in major structural parts such as foundations and pillars (11 cases), ▲ negligence in maintenance to preserve durability of major structural parts (39 cases), and ▲ neglect of damaged safety railings and wooden deck flooring (10 cases).

Among the major detected cases, on walking trail A, all the pillars of the safety railing installed on the bridge were constructed with temporary welding without bolts being fastened. On pedestrian deck B, the most heavily loaded critical structural parts were temporarily welded with cut steel plates, raising concerns about the facility’s overturning or collapse, yet it was left unattended without confirming whether the construction was done according to the design documents.

In particular, deck facilities installed around seawater surfaces and lakes were mostly constructed with lightweight steel frames for foundations and pillars in direct contact with water, raising concerns about corrosion, subsidence, and structural overturning or collapse due to damage, but inspections were not properly conducted.

The province instructed the relevant departments of the cities and counties to carry out reconstruction and reinforcement work. Additionally, since there are no mandatory provisions for regular inspections or detailed safety diagnoses, the province plans to propose amendments to related laws to the central government to introduce maintenance systems suitable for the scale and nature of the facilities.

Kang Shin-ho, head of the province’s Special Safety Inspection Team, stated, "We will share the cases pointed out in this safety inspection with all related departments in cities and counties across the province to prevent recurrence of the same issues. To proactively respond to safety accidents caused by poor construction or negligence in maintenance of wooden deck facilities on walking trails, we will establish our own guidelines for design, construction, and maintenance of deck facilities and conduct periodic safety inspections annually."

Meanwhile, as of 2020, there are 564 walking trail decks installed in the province, of which 188 are pedestrian bridges and 19 are large decks over 1 km in length. Structures requiring special attention for maintenance account for 207 locations, or 37% of the total.

However, most are classified as landscaping facilities and have a defect warranty period of two years.