“Concrete cracks deep sea .. Fragments fall and accidents are frequent”
Even if you have already passed the safety inspection and repaired it, there is no effect on the reconstruction.
“It’s a shame that it costs billions of dollars to paint because it’s going to be reconstructed soon, but I have no choice but to live like a human even until two weeks ago.”
According to the maintenance industry on the 13th, it is known that ‘Eunma Apartment’, which is considered as one of the major reconstructions in the Gangnam area of Seoul, is currently painting the exterior of the apartment and waterproofing the roof. Since it is a complex waiting only for reconstruction, there were speculations such as “Why are you painting the complex because it is soon to be demolished?” “Isn’t it painted because the reconstruction plan is messed up?”
It is not true that once painted, the degree of aging decreases, which is disadvantageous when reviewing reconstruction. This is because Eunma has already passed the ‘safety examination’ in 2010 to determine whether reconstruction is possible. As all safety inspections have been passed, partial renovations do not affect the reconstruction review process at all.
The stumbling block for Eunma’s reconstruction is the deliberation of the overhaul plan by the City Planning Committee (Dogye Committee) of the Seoul Metropolitan Government. At this stage, the Reconstruction process has been halted as the Dogae Board has not allowed it to pass for more than five years. The Eun-ma Promotion Committee is hoping that “this year will be possible” as Mayor Oh Se-hoon introduced the expedited integrated planning policy to help the reconstruction process, and the composition of the heirs changed during the last June 1 local elections. It is known that the Dogye Committee held subcommittees several times recently and deliberated on the Eunma complex.
Eunma is a complex built in 1979. After 43 years, cracks are everywhere and the concrete is breaking. A few years ago, the wreckage of broken concrete has been falling, so accidents are frequent. Recently, there has been an accident where fragments of concrete hit a parking lot from a height of 14 stories, breaking the glass of a car.
Residents explain that water seeps through cracks in the cracked concrete, making the external wall cracks worse. It is said that the complex is not able to withstand the cost of maintenance while waiting for reconstruction. Eunma decided to spend regarding 2.8 billion won to paint the exterior walls of 28 buildings and waterproof the roof.
An official from Eunma Apartment’s Residents’ Representative Association said, “The parking vehicle was greatly damaged by the debris from the cracks in the exterior wall, and the concrete is still falling, so I thought that people might be injured, so I decided to start repairing it without considering the cost.” Even if it is passed right away, it will take more than five years for the union to be established and relocate, so we offered the company five years to repair defects as a condition of bidding,” he explained.
He added, “I urge the Seoul Metropolitan Government to pass the deliberation as soon as possible, as the lives of residents are threatened by the aging of the apartments to the extent that there is a risk of a serious safety accident.”
Reporter Park Jong-pil jp@hankyung.com
