Gyeonggi Province is strengthening the operation of the 'Gyeonggi Underground Safety Keeper' to prevent ground accidents around underground facilities and supporting the purchase of equipment so that cities and counties can systematically conduct joint investigations of underground facilities (GPR surveys).
Gyeonggi Province announced on the 17th that it has established a special safety measure for ground subsidence with these contents.
Amid growing needs to strengthen underground safety management due to recent ground subsidence accidents in Myeongil-dong, Gangdong-gu, Seoul, and collapse accidents at the Shinansan Line construction site in Gwangmyeong City, this measure aims to alleviate residents' anxiety and protect lives and property.
First, Gyeonggi Province will institutionalize the 'Gyeonggi Underground Safety Keeper,' which is being implemented for the first time nationwide, to strengthen the prevention of ground accidents around underground facilities.
The Underground Safety Keeper is a system where 42 experts in soil, geology, and structural fields visit sites subject to underground safety evaluation (excavations over 10m) in teams of two to provide on-site consultation regarding compliance with safety management plans.
Since 2020, they have advised on 312 underground development sites and 34 underground facility sites within the province. With the revision of the ordinance (Partial Amendment to the Gyeonggi Province Underground Safety Management and Maintenance Ordinance) that provides the legal basis for operating the Underground Safety Keeper passing the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly on the 15th, the province plans to expand expert on-site consultation and inspections of underground development sites and underground facilities in cities and counties during periods of concern for ground subsidence such as thawing seasons, rainy seasons, and heavy rainfall periods.
Along with this, the operation of the 'Gyeonggi Province Underground Facility Safety Management Council' will be strengthened.
In 2023, Gyeonggi Province formed a council with six institutions including Korea Electric Power Corporation, Korea Water Resources Corporation, and other public institutions and companies related to underground facilities. The council's operation, previously held twice a year, will be expanded to a more frequent schedule, and all 31 cities and counties will be instructed to form and operate their own councils to promote joint investigations of underground facilities (GPR surveys) and establish a cooperative system for joint response in case of accidents.
Regarding this, Gyeonggi Province will confirm demand in consultation with cities and counties, which are the supervisory bodies for ground surveys (GPR surveys), and support necessary budgets such as equipment purchase, survey costs, and underground safety map creation from the first supplementary budget of this year using provincial funds. GPR survey equipment is expected to cost between 200 million to 300 million KRW per unit for shallow depths and 600 million to 800 million KRW for deeper depths.
Gyeonggi Province will also expand inspections of railroads and large construction sites within the province. Since conducting a special inspection on June 2nd for ground subsidence (sinkholes) at the Dobongsan~Okjeong metropolitan railroad construction site, inspections using external experts on construction sites and surrounding areas have been continuously carried out, and special management zones for ground subsidence (road sections) will be designated and specially managed for each construction section.
Especially during thawing and rainy seasons, when ground subsidence mainly occurs, joint inspections will be conducted by the Railroad Construction Technical Advisory Committee, Underground Safety Keeper, and the relevant city or county to focus on ground subsidence and enable proactive measures. After comprehensively reviewing excavation progress and measurement data for each site, additional GPR surveys will be conducted on sections suspected to be risky.
Additionally, following the joint inspection results last month using the Gyeonggi Province Construction Safety Advisory Group on thawing season inspections of provincial and private construction sites, joint inspections will be promoted for large construction sites with concerns about ground subsidence, focusing on the establishment of safety management plans and site condition checks.
Furthermore, to prevent ground subsidence caused by damage to water and sewage pipes, Gyeonggi Province will actively support inspections of aging water and sewage pipelines in cooperation with cities, counties, and related organizations during joint inspections of large construction sites in the short term.
Moreover, the province will expand experiential education to respond to various incidents and accidents in industrial sites, establish the Gyeonggi Disaster Safety Research Center to develop and distribute self-checklists by type, and strengthen safety culture activities that residents can empathize with and participate in, such as industrial site monitoring, through the 'Gyeonggi Province Safety Culture Promotion Council Working Group.'
Kim Seong-jung, the First Deputy Governor of Gyeonggi Province, said, "We will strengthen and implement special safety measures to ensure the safety of residents who are anxious due to consecutive accidents such as underground construction site collapses and ground subsidence (sinkholes). Since these issues are closely related to residents' lives, we will do our best in proactive safety management and accident prevention."
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