The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced that as part of measures to prevent a recurrence of the Seosomun Overpass collapse accident, a joint government safety inspection of aging public bridges rated D and E nationwide revealed that 57 locations lacked secured safety measure budgets.

Among the 57 aging bridges without safety measure budgets, 4 are rated Grade E and 53 are rated Grade D.

The government decided to immediately provide KRW 2.1 billion in disaster safety special grants to Grade E hazardous bridges requiring immediate action, and will continue to support Grade D bridges in consultation with local governments.

Along with budget support, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety will phase in and strengthen existing systems to prevent accidents during safety measures such as demolition, reconstruction, and reinforcement.

At the commissioning stage, evaluations of past similar project experience will be strengthened to ensure contractors with relevant demolition experience are selected.

At the design stage, projects will be designated for design safety reviews to assess risks in advance.

At the construction stage, projects will be designated for safety management plan formulation, and work is planned to proceed only after safety verification by a professional structural engineer.

In addition, if abnormal signs are detected during work, operations are to be suspended immediately to observe structural changes over a sufficient period, with priority given to utilizing cutting-edge equipment such as drones and closed-circuit television (CCTV) to confirm safety.

The Seosomun Overpass Recurrence Prevention Task Force, comprising the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and the Ministry of Employment and Labor, plans to formulate comprehensive safety management system improvements for overall demolition work by synthesizing investigation results from the Construction Accident Investigation Committee regarding the Ulsan Thermal Power Plant and Seosomun Overpass collapse accidents, as well as improvement tasks from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Public-Private Joint Demolition Safety Management TF.

Minister of the Interior and Safety Yun Ho-jung stated, "Through this joint inspection, we will promptly support bridges that have been left vulnerable due to a lack of secured budgets, and based on the lessons learned from the Seosomun Overpass accident, we will fundamentally improve the safety management systems for the demolition work of aging structures overall."

(Photo: Yonhap News)