After a height difference of about 9 centimeters was found recently at the south-end onramp to Seongsu Bridge in Seoul, the city said it will remove the road pavement and check the ground conditions.
The Seoul city government said on the 26th that on the 29th it will conduct on-site tests with outside experts in structures and geotechnics to inspect the condition of the structures beneath the pavement and the bearing capacity of the ground.
The site is the south-end ramp section entering Seongsu Bridge from Dongho Bridge toward Jamsil on Olympic-daero.
To do this, the ramp will be fully closed from 9 p.m. on the 29th to 6 a.m. on the 30th, and one adjacent lane on Olympic-daero will also be partially closed.
According to the city, the spot with the height difference on Seongsu Bridge is not on the main bridge structure but on the approach retaining wall section built by piling earth.
The on-site test is a procedure to confirm whether the ground has sufficient bearing capacity.
After the on-site test, the city will also repave from the ramp entrance to the bridge connection to reduce jolting when vehicles pass and to improve driving stability and ride comfort.
Seoul will analyze the on-site test results and the ongoing detailed safety diagnosis to assess the facility's condition and, if necessary, prepare repair and reinforcement measures.
Earlier, the city said it discovered and managed the roughly 9-centimeter height difference in this section during a detailed safety diagnosis and determined there were no structural safety issues because there has been no additional settlement since 2016.
It also said that since the 9th it has conducted a joint inspection with outside experts and on the 10th carried out a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey to recheck conditions, and found no anomalies affecting safety or any sign that the height difference is increasing.