An accident has occurred for a week since water vapor is emitted from a hot water pipe (hot water pipe) buried under a road in Haeundae New City in Busan.

When the Haeundae new town was created as the first new city in Busan 24 years ago, there were additional signs of anomalies in 7 old hot water pipes buried, and the anxiety is growing.

On the morning of the 20th, it is the construction site of the hot water pipe replacement at the intersection of Haeundae Yangwoon Elementary School.

On the 14th, even though it has been a week since the water vapor has risen abundantly and caused residents to be anxious, water vapor is still rising.

An official at the construction site said, "The accident pipe is one of the 450mm diameter pipes that supply heating and hot water to the new town, so after creating the bypass pipe, there is no damage to the residents when the accident site is taken." "It seems to be over 26 days."

The construction of the hot water pipe took place in two lanes of five lanes.

A safety fence was put on a section of about 30m and a digging was done with an excavator about 10m below.
It was observed that two hot water pipes were buried side by side under the road that went down.

An official at the construction site said, “The pipes supplied by the hot water from the Busan Energy Complex collective energy supply facility near the old incinerator in the new downtown area of ​​Haeundae and the pipes through which the cooled water returns after being transferred to the apartments are buried side by side.” The.

The accident occurred in a supply pipe that transports about 100 degrees of water.

Although the Corporation estimates that the aging of the pipeline has caused pinhole-shaped holes, it is difficult to confirm the exact location of the accident until a bypass pipeline is created.

The hot water pipe consists of a 450 mm diameter main pipe buried under the main road in the new city and a 75 mm pipe buried between the apartments.

On the 14th, the Corporation detected an abnormality when the water level in the hot water tank, which stores thousands of tons of hot water in the collective energy supply facility, suddenly went down, and the leak was found while searching for the hot water pipe.

"There is no risk that the piping will explode," said an official at the Corporation.

However, residents are not worried.

In December 2018, in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, there were some 50 casualties of old hot water pipes.

Resident Mo (57, female), a former citizen of the new city, said, "Every day, I go to and from the road where the hot water pipes are buried."
The problem is that the hot water pipes buried throughout the new city are already showing signs of abnormality in many places.

As last year and earlier this year, employees of the Corporation inspected using thermal imaging cameras, etc., and have been observing intensively as heat is detected in 7 locations where plumbing is buried.

An official from the Corporation said, "The insulation that wraps around the subject can be cut off, and heat may be detected, and even if the insulation is close to the ground, heat may rise."

Meanwhile, the repair of hot water pipes due to aging is steadily occurring annually, with 13 cases in 2016, 10 cases in 2017, 12 cases in 2018, and 10 cases in last year.

Although it was only May this year, it was confirmed that there were 8 replacements.

(Photo = Yonhap News)