Is it because of the 'Daepurika'... Central dividers collapsing here and there due to the heatwave

Daegu Daytime Temperature 36°C... Combined with Asphalt Heat

As daytime temperatures in Daegu soar up to a high of 37.7 degrees Celsius, the scorching heat continues, causing road median barriers to repeatedly collapse under the intense asphalt heat.

According to Daegu Buk-gu Office and local media on the 6th, around 3 p.m. that day, residents reported that a road median barrier stretching approximately 200 meters near Chimsan Intersection in Buk-gu had collapsed.

On the 3rd, the central road divider installed in front of the Padong Administrative Welfare Center in Suseong-gu, Daegu, collapsed under the heat of the asphalt.
Photo by Yonhap News

The median barriers had all cracked at the bottom as if fractured, causing them to fall to one side of the road. Buk-gu Office removed all the median barriers within an hour of receiving the report, preventing any further accidents.

On the same day, about 10 meters of median barriers also collapsed on the road in front of Daegu Dongbu Church in Jung-gu, and authorities removed them. Jung-gu Office also concluded that the collapse was due to the heatwave.

This is not the first time median barriers in Daegu have collapsed. On the 3rd, when daytime temperatures in Daegu reached a high of 37.7 degrees Celsius, about 50 meters of median barriers collapsed in the areas of Padong and Sinmae-dong in Suseong-gu. On that day, under the blazing sun without shade, the perceived temperature soared up to 50 degrees Celsius.

Workers dispatched to remove the collapsed median barriers were drenched in sweat after completing their tasks, and the intense heat radiating from the asphalt made the remaining median barriers appear as if they would melt soon.

According to guidelines from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, road median barriers have polyurethane material at the bottom to withstand traffic accident impacts, but the heatwave combined with the heated asphalt caused the median barriers to fail and melt under the intense heat. The highest daytime temperature in Daegu that day reached 36 degrees Celsius.