The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Wonju Regional Land Management Office approved changes to the construction method without investigating the cause of a tunnel collapse, as revealed in an audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection. The Board has notified the Ministry and the Regional Office to take disciplinary action against the relevant parties.
The Board of Audit and Inspection disclosed this information in its report titled 'Current status of SOC general road construction project management,' released on the 19th.
According to the Board, construction company A confirmed that the tunnel's ground conditions were poor, contrary to the original design, yet proceeded with the construction without a safety re-evaluation. They also installed steel pipe grouting at locations different from the design plan and improperly constructed rock bolts at the tunnel entrance slope, failing to secure the necessary support. Ultimately, in November 2023, during the tunneling process, an accident occurred in which the entrance and slope collapsed together.
Nevertheless, the contracting authority, the Wonju Regional Office, did not investigate the cause of the collapse or assign responsibility and did not impose sanctions for the poor construction. Instead, when the construction company and the supervising firm requested, in June of last year, to change the construction method to slope excavation due to 'concerns about additional collapse' and demanded an increase in project costs by 1.14 billion won, the authority approved it.
According to the general conditions of the construction contract, any construction that deviates from the design does not constitute a reason for contract modification or cost increase, and major changes in construction method must be reviewed by a technical advisory committee. However, the Wonju Regional Office did not adhere to this procedure.
In response, the Board of Audit and Inspection instructed the Ministry and the Regional Office to 'discipline those who improperly handled design change work and exercise caution.' It also demanded that they 'compensate for financial losses and prepare sanctions against the construction company.'
In addition, the Busan Regional Land Management Office was found to have improperly approved a detailed design that violated bidding guidelines, granting benefits such as an extension of the construction period to the construction company, and was urged by the Board to exercise caution. The Busan Regional Office also faced community opposition after commencing construction without reviewing a request to change the route near an elementary school during the construction of the Goseong-Tongyeong project, resulting in a delay of over three years.