Busan is good

Motorway project to spark southern coastline development

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In the waters off Busan, a construction project which promises to unlock the tourism potential of Korea's southern coastal regions while injecting just over a trillion won into the local economy, is underway.

 

Once completed, the Busan-Geoje Fixed Link Project - an 8.2 kilometer long two-lane in each direction combined bridge and immersed tunnel motorway - will link Busan with Geoje Island - Korea's second-largest island and a place renowned for its environmental beauty and high-value industries such as shipbuilding, heavy manufacturing and aquaculture.

 

At present, the journey from the mainland is via ferry, or a circuitous 140 kilometer string of roads and bridges. With driving time even in good conditions is a traffic-congested three and a half hours, the new link will see this slashed to just under an hour with the 60 kilometer journey from Busan's Sasang Bus Terminal to Geoje City Hall expected to take around 40 minutes.

 

Already one of Korea's most popular summer tourist destinations, the fixed-link project will allow visitors greater access to sparsely-populated Gyeongsangnam-do's beaches, forests and mountains. Government planners believe this will spark the emergence of a thriving year-round tourism industry while allowing the region's aquaculturalists to transport their produce cost effectively by road to mainland markets. Further west along the southern coastline, Yeosu and Mokpo are also expected to attract more tourists as a result of the development. Commencing at Daejuk Island in Busan, the first section of the project consists of a 3.7 kilometer immersed tunnel which upon surfacing at Gadeok Island, will extend on to Geoje Island via Junguk and Jeo Islands via two cable-stayed bridges. A two-pylon cable-stayed bridge with a 475 meter main span, 220 meter side span and 940 meter connecting span is between Junguk and Jeo Islands. The three-pylon cable-stayed bridge, a rarely-used design, links Jeo and Geoje Islands and has a 230 meter main span, 106 meter side span and 968.5 meter connecting span.

 

With a 1,446.9 billion won price tag, the project is privately-financed on the BOT (build, operate, transfer) model. GK Fixed Link Corporation, which includes Daewoo Engineering and Construction, Daelim, Doosan Industrial Development, SK Engineering & Construction, KDC, Hanil and Wonha Construction, holds the BOT license. The consortium will manage the completed project for 40 years with the operator being Busan Metropolitan City.

 

Daewoo E&C - lead contractor in the GK Fixed Link Corporation - is responsible for overseeing all work and will have chalked up several engineering "firsts" both in Korea and the world upon completion of the project.

 

Yang Kyung, a Project Management Professional (PMP) and manager with Daewoo E&C, said this is the first time a consecutive cable stayed bridge and immersed tunnel have been constructed in Korea.

 

"This job is extremely exciting," he said. "The demanding environmental and technical challenges associated with the task are immense. We have looked around the world for engineering solutions. After all, not too many projects have to incorporate earthquakes, typhoons, wave action and water depth into their plans while delivering an environmentally-friendly product."

 

With access to Busan New Port by heavy shipping, which opened with three berths operational out of a planned 30 in January this year, unable to be hindered by navigation obstacles such as a bridge, Daewoo E&C was forced to undertake construction of one of the longest and deepest immersed tunnels in the world. "The sea bed is very deep, too soft and in a seismic zone," Yang explained. "This meant that conventional tunneling was out of the question."

 

The tunnel, made up of 18 prefabricated concrete elements weighing between 45,000 and 50,000 tons will be constructed at Daewoo E&C's Pre-Casting Yard in Anjung, Tongyeong before being floated out to the site and sunk into a pre-dredged trench. Once in position, they will be sealed together and covered in backfill.

 

According to Erwin Brakenhoff, Sales Director with Trelleborg Bakker - supplier of the waterproof seals that will be used to keep the Busan-Geoje immersed tunnel dry - what makes the project so special is its length, the water depth and seismic activity.

 

"In general immersed tunnels are used to cross rivers," he said. "Those tunnels are approximately 800 meters in length and consist of approximately six tunnel elements. Existing immersed tunnels have a maximum water depth of 25 meters. The Busan - Geoje Link has a water depth of 50 meters."

 

Additional road works projects in conjunction with the link are also planned. An eight-lane expressway network joining the Daejeon-Tongyeong highway with the Daegu-Busan highway, in a U-type link will become the National Road 58, stretching for 17.6 kilometers. Costing an estimated $303 million, it is expected to take up to six years to complete. A further 7.9 kilometer Gadeokdo Cheonseong-dong to Noksan Industrial Complex, Busan - a six-lane highway - will be built concurrently with the other land-based roads for $241 million.

 

The Busan-Geoje Fixed Link Project is expected to open in 2010.

The source of news : The Korea Herald  2006.09.11