Dedication of Incheon Grand Bridge

Ranks 6th longest in world, cuts travel time to Incheon International Airport, saving 480 bln won in logistics costs annually

The Incheon Grand Bridge, stretching for 21.38 km, linking the Incheon International Airport and the Songdo International Business District in Incheon opened its mighty structure to traffic Oct. 16 in a ceremony attended by President Lee Myung-bak, wrapping up a 52-month-long construction period to complete the bridge, the sixth longest in the world.
A slew of dignitaries at the ceremony led by President Lee Myung-bak, included Minister Chung Jong-hwan of the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, along with foreign ambassadors and heads of construction firms, totaling some 1,000.
President Lee, in his congratulatory address, said the Incheon Grand Bridge should be recorded as one of the mightiest construction projects in the world and he appreciated the fact that there were no major accidents during the 52-month construction period, despite the tough conditions as most of the bridge is built on the sea bed between Incheon and Yeongjong Island.
The Chief Executive went on to say that all of the Korean people are proud of the brand new bridge over the sea and the world is watching Korea as its economy has been bouncing back from the slump faster than many other countries in the world. The bridge has opened a new chapter for Korea for further growth, uniting the people to pull together to spur the growth of the economy.
The presidential motorcade drove on the bridge after Lee presented presidential citations to those who made outstanding contributions to the construction of the new bridge.
The new bridge opened to the general public from Oct. 19 due to various events including a walkathon and a bicycle race to celebrate the bridge’s opening.
The bridge has six lanes with 18 km of its span crossing over the sea between Incheon and Yeongjong Island. Under the central part of the bridge, vessels weighing over 100,000 tons can pass through. Altogether, seven construction firms including Samsung Construction participated in the construction from the time it was launched in July 2005 at a cost of 2.456 trillion won.
The new bridge has made access to the Incheon International Airport so much easier. The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs projected that some 480 billion won in logistics costs will be saved annually owing to the reduction in travel time from Incheon City to the airport. Director Cho No-young of the Airport Policy Division of the MLTM said the new bridge will make a monumental contribution to not only the construction industry, but also to easing traffic on the way to the airport, one of the busiest in the world.
A variety of high-tech construction methods were employed to build the bridge. Except the 1.4 km of the center span of the bridge, which is a cable-stayed girder span, all other spans were designed with circular lines, not diametrical lines, to reduce the pressure of winds and reduce the impact from the sea waves on the bridge columns, especially during ebb and flood tides. Special dolphin-type cushions around 44 columns of the bridge had to be built to soften the impact when ships passing under the bridge collide with columns.
A total of 10 new technologies for building bridges were used for the first time in Korea, under the so called fast-track bridge construction method, which is so called because construction is carried out continuously as the designing is finished, especially on the construction of the upper side and under side of the bridge, following tests on the foundations of the columns in terms of soundness.
Workers said the project was a tough one as the tidal difference was large, reaching as high as 9.27 meters, with thick fog and strong winds sometimes gusting up to 1.68 meters per second. They were able to finish the project on time owing to various new technologies employed for the first time in Korea and their vast experiences accumulated over the years, they said.
The bridge cost 1.3 trillion won in construction expenses alone, but was completed in 52 months, far shorter than the 72 months it took to build the 7.4 km-long Seohae Bridge thanks to the fast track construction method employed to build the bridge. Most of the structures were built on the ground and lifted up to the bridge span under the full span launching method, they said.
The 50 meter-long spans of concrete were built on the ground, moved on barges and lifted up with 3,000 ton cranes to install them on the bridge. nw

President Lee Myung-bak takes a walk at the Incheon Grand Bridge officially opened in a ceremony on Oct. 16 accompanied by Incheon Mayor Ahn Sang-soo and officials of construction companies that built the 21.38 km-long bridge, the 6th longest such bridge in the world.

A view of the Incheon Grand Bridge, linking the Incheon Int’l Airport and Incheon City.