The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has decided to demolish all 58 fire-dangerous soundproof tunnels installed nationwide in connection with the second Gyeongin Expressway soundproof tunnel fire that occurred in December last year. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s total survey, out of 170 soundproof tunnels installed across the country, hazardous materials were used in 58 of them.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 2nd that it had discussed and confirmed measures to strengthen fire safety of road soundproofing facilities at a meeting of ministers related to pending state affairs to prevent the recurrence of fires in similar soundproof tunnels. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, 58 of the 170 soundproof tunnels installed nationwide use PMMA, a combustible material, accounting for 34%. Of the 12,118 soundproof walls, 14%, or 1,704, are using the same material.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport decided to replace all soundproof tunnels and soundproof walls, which have a high fire risk, as a result of a full investigation. In the case of tunnels installed on highways and national roads under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, all replacements will be carried out within this year, and all roads under the jurisdiction of local governments will be replaced by February next year.
At the same time, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to prepare design standards to prevent the use of PMMA materials to prevent similar cases from recurring. In addition, by including soundproof tunnels as specific firefighting objects under the Firefighting Facility Act, the installation of firefighting facilities equivalent to general tunnels will be mandatory, and the Road Safety Act will be revised to introduce a fire safety construction method certification system.
Lee Yong-wook, Director-General of the Road Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, “I pray for the rest of the five people who passed away in the fire accident on the 2nd Gyeongin Expressway, and I convey my deepest condolences to the bereaved families and the injured.” We will quickly implement the measures we have prepared this time to prevent accidents like this from happening.”
Reporter Yoo Oh-sang osyoo@hankyung.com
