• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.545-552
• /
• 2017

Ground subsidence can result in the formation of sinkholes, potholes, settlement of structures, and road subsidence. Road subsidence is described as the sudden collapse of the road surface into subsurface cavities caused by the loss of bearing capacity in the ground, such as the dissolution of limestone by fluid flow in the surface causing the formation of voids leading to subsidence at the surface. Road subsidence occurs about 665 times annually, and this incidence has been increasing until 2013. Damaged underground facilities, management negligence, and lowering of the ground water table have been the causes of road subsidence in Seoul. Seoul metropolitan government announced special management counter plans to relieve the anxieties and make the roads safe for passing. Construction sites, such as excavation works, need to be managed properly because they have strong potential to induce road subsidence. The aim of this study was to identify the main causes of road subsidence and suggest management plans. First, life cycle cost analysis revealed the daytime construction to be more appropriate than nighttime. In addition, by analyzing the limitations of using sand as a backfill material, it is proposed to use a flowable backfill material instead of sand. Finally, to reduce the blind spots, which is a problem in surveying the road pavement conditions of local governments, the road to be managed is divided into several zones, and a specialized agency is selected for each zone and a method of surveying the blind spots through collaboration is suggested.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.34 no.7
• /
• pp.17-27
• /
• 2018

Sinkholes have occurred in various places around the world and concerns about public safety have been raised in recent years. Particularly, a ground subsidence may occur due to a variety of conditions when developing underground spaces. Ground subsidence refers to the sinking of the Earth's surface caused by the loss of the soil constituting ground due to a certain artificial cause in the ground. Ground subsidence is induced by artificial causes such as the leakage of water supply/sewage pipes and groundwater disturbance, and it is different from a sinkhole, where the sinking of the Earth's surface is induced by the cavity formed due to the melting of limestone in the ground with limestone bedrock. In recent underground development in the urban areas of Korea, damages to surrounding buildings have frequently led to many difficulties with civil complaints and compensation issues, and the collapse of some buildings has resulted in the loss of lives and property. Accordingly, the central government has legislated the Special Act on Underground Safety Management, which will take effect from January 1, 2018. This law specifies an underground safety management system for securing underground safety, under which underground safety impact assessment is performed for projects involving underground excavation work that exceeds a certain size, and safety inspection is regularly performed for underground facilities and the surrounding ground. In this study, the contents of the special act on underground safety management are reviewed, and the direction of development of underground safety policy for preparing preemptive underground safety management preparation and response system is suggested.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
• /
• v.107 no.4
• /
• pp.393-401
• /
• 2018

The aim of this study was to analyze the characteristics of ground subsidence and land-creeping in four mining areas in Korea. Land creeping were occurred by large-scale sinkholes and tensile cracks in the mining areas. This ares showed the shape as large-scale landslides by the collapsed stone debris pushed in the direction of gravity. The rock type in the No. 4 survey area was sandstone and shale, whereas that of other three areas was limestone. The limestone was generally vulnerable to land creeping. The ground subsidence and land creeping in four mining areas were located near the ridge of the mountain. The land creeping by ground subsidence in the mining areas showed complex shapes due to the cavity of underground tunnel and the colluvial debris by gravity in the mountain area, whereas the land creeping in Korea are in the shape of landslide. The average slope of the mining area was ranged from $30.4^{\circ}$ to $33.7^{\circ}$. The values were higher ($1.5^{\circ}{\sim}4.8^{\circ}$) than the average slopes for landslide areas.