Consortium says test issues were addressed in design; ministry maintains approval review was sound
A Daewoo Engineering & Construction-led consortium on Wednesday rejected claims that technical problems were overlooked in the approval of Gadeokdo New Airport’s ground improvement design, saying the issues had been disclosed and corrective measures incorporated.
The response followed a local media report alleging that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport rushed approval despite problems found during offshore tests of plastic board drains. The drains are inserted into soft soil to remove water and help consolidate the ground.
The consortium conducted tests at five offshore locations within the construction site from July 23 to Aug. 16. It said the results confirmed that the method was workable in sections representing 89 percent of the planned offshore plastic board drain work.
In the remaining 11 percent, some drains failed to penetrate intermediate sandy soil layers or became deformed during installation.
The consortium said it added measures to increase penetration force to the basic design report submitted to the Public Procurement Service and the project supervisor on Sept. 7. A second round of testing is being prepared to refine the installation method.
“The constructability test was a process to prevent trial and error during the actual construction,” the consortium said.
The ministry also defended the design review, saying the design reflected measures to improve penetration through the sandy layers.
The consortium said its design drew on 97 offshore geological surveys, compared with 19 conducted by a previous rival consortium. The additional findings led it to include lower clay layers, as well as upper layers, in its ground improvement plan.
Further testing and equipment upgrades will be completed before offshore drain installation, which is expected to begin about a year after the main construction starts, it added.
Gadeokdo New Airport, a 10.7 trillion won ($8 billion) project in Busan, is scheduled to begin priority construction in November, followed by full-scale construction in the first half of next year. The government aims to open the airport in 2035.
hwkan@heraldcorp.com
