Stable Infrastructures with DSI: Slope Stabilization in South Korea

Due to its geographic position, South Korea is an excellent location for worldwide maritime trade. In order to further increase the country’s economic attractiveness for international trade , a new highway is being built in the south.

Among other cities, the route will link the strategically important seaports of Mokpo and Gwangyang, thus considerably improving the area’s infrastructure. Simultaneously, the new highway will enhance tourism along Korea’s south coast.

The 106.8km long highway is being constructed in 12 sections and connects Mokpo on the west coast with the city of Gwangyang on the south coast. The four lane highway will have a width of 23.4m and will include approximately 26km of tunnels and 17km of bridges.

The route partly runs through hilly and mountainous regions. In order to impact the environment as little as possible and to protect the route from landslides, the contractor awarded DSI Korea the job of supplying the anchorage systems necessary for slope stabilization.

For section 2-1, DSI Korea supplied a total of 1,135 Type 5x0,6" DYWIDAG Strand Anchors in lengths of 16-29m. 1,121 Type 4x0,6" DYWIDAG Strand Anchors in lengths of 8.5 to 22m were installed in lot 3. In order to insure the long-term stabilization of the slopes in question, re-stressable anchors with long-term corrosion protection were used to allow for a flexible adaptation to future geological changes.

Construction began in May 2007 and is due to finish in March 2009.