Collapse Accident in Underground Parking Lot of Apartment Constructed by GS Construction
Fortunately, No Casualties Reported
The government's investigation into the collapse accident of the underground parking lot at the apartment complex (AA13-2BL) in Geomdan New Town, Incheon, revealed that the cause was due to comprehensive negligence in design, supervision, and construction. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to request relevant agencies to take action against violations based on the identified causes and to establish measures to prevent recurrence.
On the 5th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport disclosed the results of the accident investigation by the Construction Accident Investigation Committee and the special inspection of the accident site related to the underground parking lot collapse at the Geomdan apartment construction site in Incheon.
The investigation committee pointed out that the accident occurred because shear reinforcement bars were not installed due to negligence in design, supervision, and construction. Additionally, insufficient concrete strength in the collapsed section and poor quality control, as well as underestimating the additional loads during construction, were identified as major causes of the accident. As GS Construction's own investigation also revealed that construction was a primary cause, GS Construction cannot evade responsibility.
As measures to prevent recurrence, the committee proposed △strengthening the review process for flat slab structures and expanding expert participation, △improving ready-mixed concrete quality management and on-site concrete quality, and △enhancing inspection procedures and linking and supplementing related standards.
Hong Geon-ho, chairman of the investigation committee, stated, "The final report will be compiled and supplemented based on the investigation results and submitted to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport by July," adding, "We hope the investigation report will help prevent similar accidents in the future."
The special inspection team pointed out △lack of regular safety inspections, misuse of safety management funds, and other safety management deficiencies, △insufficient quality management plans and other quality control shortcomings, and △discrepancies between structural calculation documents and design drawings, as well as construction differing from the design, highlighting deficiencies in the design, construction, and supervision stages.
Kim Gyu-cheol, Director of Technical Safety Policy at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "Based on the issues pointed out during the special inspection and the causes identified by the investigation committee, we will strictly demand relevant agencies to take action against violations and promptly establish recurrence prevention measures to improve and prevent similar accidents from happening again."
Meanwhile, on April 29, an accident occurred where the upper structure of the roof on the first and second basement floors of the underground parking lot under construction by GS Construction in Geomdan New Town, Seo-gu, Incheon, collapsed. Fortunately, there were no casualties as the building had not yet been occupied.
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