Mighty Resurgence of Railroad

Honam High-Speed Rail is part of rail axis connecting Seoul and Honam region, cutting travel time in half

Honam High-Speed Railroad, as one of the major high-speed railroad axes in Korea, carries high expectations for its contributions to the nation's economic development when it is completed, along with the Seoul-Busan High-Speed Railroad, which is already in operation.
The high-speed rail not only connects Seoul with the Honam region, but will also link to the existing conventional railroad network as a traffic connection facility to connect the Honam region to the national railroad network covering the entire country.
The Honam High-Speed Rail is also being counted on to expand the region's transport capacity and cut transport costs since it will be a passenger-only rail line, leaving a lot of room for cargo transportation to the existing railroads.
The new high-speed rail is also expected to help realize a half-day national transport facility, meaning anywhere in the country will accessible within a half-day time frame, covering the increasing demand for long-distance travel and a means of mass transport volume on its high-speed transport platform.
The new high-speed rail will have a huge economic effect for the Honam region, especially for towns and villages along the railroad. The projected productivity effect will be around 20.7 trillion won, 4.2 trillion won in wages and an increase in employment by 1.72 trillion won for workers to build the rail line.
During the rail's operation period, it is projected to generate an economic benefit to the region of 48 billion won annually in productivity and 29 billion won annually in addition along with changes in demand.
A number of key construction firms have been engaged in the construction of the high-speed rail starting with the basic work such as building the rail foundations.
Dongbu Construction and four other minor builders have been working on section 3-1 of the rail line running from Yongi-ri, Iksan, North Jeolla Province, since Nov. 24, 2009, with the aim to complete it by April 23, 2013 at a cost of 218.9 billion won.
Daelim Industrial and two other builders have been working on section 3-2 located between Mohyun-dong, Iksan, North Jeolla Province since May 22, with the aim to be finished on July 21, 2013 at a cost of 228.5 billion won.
Again, Daelim Industrial and four other construction firms have been taking charge of building the rail base in section 3-3 between Mokcheon-dong and Pyeonghwa-dong, Iksan, North Jeolla Province, since Nov. 24 to be completed by Nov. 23, 2012, at a cost of 277.5 billion won.
Hyundai Development has been taking charge of rail foundation construction for section 3-4 along with three other builders since Nov. 24, 2009, with the aim to complete it by Dec. 23, 2012, at a cost of 198.6 billion won.
Samsung Construction and four other firms have been in charge of railroad foundation construction on section 4-1 in Suhjong-dong, Gimjae, North Jeolla Province, since Sept. 30, 2009, and aim to complete it by Oct. 29, 2012, at a cost of 252.7 billion won.
Ssangyong Engineering & Construction and five other firms have been in charge of railroad foundation construction on section 4-2 between Daewoo-myeon, Jeongeup City and Jeongwoo-myeon, Jeongeup City. The project, which began on Dec. 28, 2009, will be carried out by next July at a cost of 207.2 billion won.
KCC Construction and four other firms have been building the rail base for the 4-3 section between Samsung-dong, Jeongup, North Jeolla Province, and Buk-I Myeon, Jangsong County, South Jeolla Province, since Sept. 30 and aim to finish it by Feb. 28, 2013, at a cost of 153.6 billion won including VAT.
Hanjin Heavy Industries and two other builders have been jointly building the rail foundation on section 4-4 of the rail line since Sept. 30, 2009, with a completion target of April 29, 2013 at a cost of 20.6 billion won including VAT.
Kumho Industrial and three others have been in charge of building the rail base for section 5-1 extending from Bukee-myon, Jangsong County to Sosam-myon, South Jeolla Province since Nov. 24, 2009 and expect to finish the job on Jan. 23, 2013 at a cost of 178 billion won.
Samhwan Enterprise and two other firms have been engaged in the section 5-2 project to build the rail foundation extending from Seosam-myon to Nam-myon in Jangsong County, South Jeolla Province, since Sept. 30, 2009 and expect to complete work on Jan. 29, 2013 at a cost of 186.5 billion won.
GS Construction and three other builders have been building the rail base extending from Nam-myon, Jangsong County to Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju, South Jeolla Province, since Nov. 24, 2009 and expect to be finished by Jan. 23, 2014 at a cost of 18.08 billion won.
Construction technologies being used in the Honam High-Speed Rail Project include mainly PSM to reduce the time to build bridges. The method uses molds to produce a pc box as long as a section of the bridge being built and transport them to the location of the bridge and the use of a launching girder to install them. It cuts the time to build the bridges by building sections with molds and machines.
The method saves time since it allows the bridge parts to be mass-produced at plants with automatic assembly, regardless of the weather. It also saves manpower since machines are used in many areas with few problems in stable material supply, ensuring the timely delivery of high-quality products.
The Clean Development Mechanism or CDM has been applied to the construction of the Honam High-speed Rail to honor the Kyoto Protocol and to keep it in line with the government's low-carbon, green growth policies. Under the CDM, countries can invest in greenhouse gas reduction projects and secure the rights to the reduced amount of CO2 gas. nw

A drawing of the Honam High-speed Rail being built connecting Daejeon and Mokpo that will ultimately be linked with the Seoul-Busan High-speed Rail.
A high-speed train running on the Seoul-Gwangju High-speed rail.

A layout of PSM manufacturing high-speed rail designed to secure the best safety, quality, and top-quality environmentally- friendly rail.

The newly built Honam High-Speed Railroad will be constructed under the eco-friendly paradigm.

Photos on Courtesy of KR