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17th anniversary of Road Day observed with 1,000 people in attendance


The nation celebrated the 17th Road Day anniversary commemorating the opening of the Gyeongbu (Seoul-Busan) Expressway. In particular, together with the anniversary event in Seoul, a ritual designed to console the souls of 77 workers who died during the construction of the trunk line was held in front of the monument for the "fallen heroes"of the Gyeonbu Line at the Geumgang rest stop in Okcheon-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do, with the bereaved family members, representatives of contractors who participated in the construction of the line and Korea Expressway Corp. in attendance.
Minister of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs Chung Jong-hwan said in his speech at the ceremony, "Heroes of road and transportation who have contributed to Korea's economic strides have come together again on this Road Day anniversary marking the opening of the Gyeongbu Line."His message brought back the historic moment of the opening of the line, striking the right chord with the ritual participants.
In celebration of the July 7, 1970 opening of the Gyeongbu Line, Road Day has been observed since 1992 with the goal of publicizing the impact of roads on the national economy and the lives of the people and a spreading of a social consensus on roads.
About 1,000 people from the construction industry and other representatives from several walks of life, including Lieu Chull-ho, chairman of the Korean Road and Transportation Association and concurrently chairman of Korea Expressway Corp., were on hand at the ceremony at the Seoul Kyoyukmunhwahoekwan.
During this year's anniversary ceremony, three organizations and 27 people were awarded the minister's prize in recognition of their contributions in such areas as road design, supervision, construction, inspection and R&D.
Choi Ung-ki, general manager of Hyundai Engineering & Construction, has been credited with introducing Korea's first Incremental Launching Method (ILM) in expanding the Honam Line to a four-lane one, elevating Korea's civil engineering standing.
Yoon Suk-hyon, general manager of GS E&C, was praised for cutting costs by employing a technology for treating the remnants of ready-mixed concrete and efficiently blasting the tunnel floor, a technology for which he has applied for a patent. Yoon, who has worked in the field for more than 30 years, demonstrated his technological prowess in the construction of the railroad bed in Gwangyang and a Saudi Arabian air force base.
The technology seminar and the policy debate, events designed to mark this year's anniversary, were also held at the Seoul Kyoyukmunhwahoekwan.
Yoo In-sang, director of Road Policy at the Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs Ministry (MLTM), delivered an opening speech during the policy debate. Hwang Sang-kyu, a researcher at the Korea Transport Institute and concurrently chief of the Korea Transport Database, spoke about the direction of road policies in an era of high crude oil prices. Debaters in the first session, chaired by Prof. Chun Kyung-soo of Seoul National University,
included Park Yong-suk, a researcher at the Construction & Economy Research Institute of Korea (CERIK); Yoo Kyung-soo, chairman of the Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems; Prof. Oh Young-tae, of Aju University; MLTM Road Policy Director Yoo; Lee Jae-lim, president of the Korea Research Institute of Transportation Industries (KRITI); and Chun Young-soo, president of Dongmyeong Engineering Consultants & Architecture.
Prof. Oh spoke about the need to build up a convenient mass transport network in order to absorb transportation demands. A buses-only lane system is in place in Washington, D.C., while a bicycle road system has been introduced in the Netherlands. There is a need for building up the foundation for creating pollution-free zones.
KRITI President Lee opined,
"Fossil fuel reserves are in short supply as out of the reserves estimated at 1 trillion barrels, approximately 30 billion barrels are used up each year. Now is the time to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions as the world is faced with a serious food crisis if each time the global temperature rises 1 degree centigrade, it will cause an approximately 10 percent drop in crop production.
Together with an improvement in fuel efficiency, the automobile structure needs to be revamped into such vehicles as fuel cell, gas, compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) cars, and the government needs to consider restricting the operation of fossil fuel cars and give priority in using roads to energy-efficient cars,"he said.
CERIK Researcher Park said Korea ranks 15th and 13th among OECD countries in terms of infrastructure budget and combined railway length, and its logistics costs shot up from 53 trillion won in 1995 to 123 trillion won in 2003, accounting for 15.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), compared to 8.7 percent in the United States. Additional costs, caused by traffic snarls, surged from 15 trillion won in 1996 to 23 trillion won in 2006, but the government plans to reduce its budgetary investments in road construction by 0.7 percent by 2015. A delay in the construction of 453 expressways and national roads could raise the accumulated project bill by between 10 percent and 15 percent. The construction industry is an advanced one that has spillover effects on other industries, he said.
KITS Chairman Yoo spoke of the need to make travel distances shorter and the means of transportation and facilities fuel-efficient and of the public's determination to cut down their spending on energy. The current Freeway Traffic Management System (FTMS) needs to be upgraded with the integration of all traffic information, he said.
MLTM Road Policy Director Yoo explained the direction of Korea's road policies, calling for the expansion of roads, the efficient operation of roads and traffic demand management. He also touched on the planned construction of the second Seoul ring expressway and the second Gyeongbu Expressway. nw

Chairman Lieu Chull-ho of the Korea Road & Transportation Association (KRTA)

A scene marking the 17th anniversary of Road Day.

(photo left) A photo exhibition in celebration of Road Day. MLTM Minister Chung Jong-hwan pesents an award to one of the three organizations and 27 people who were honored with the minister's prize in recognition of theircontributions in such areas as road design, supervision, construction, inspection and R&D.