Residents are trembling with anxiety as construction work is proceeding with explosives detonating in downtown Seoul, shaking nearby apartments and creating cracks.
According to related organizations, since May 2, they have been excavating at an apartment complex construction site in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, and detonating explosives more than 20 times a day on weekdays.
After digging up the ground up to the 3rd basement floor, 8 apartments in all have to be raised, but from the 2nd basement floor, bedrock appears and explosives are being used.
The use of explosives has been granted until the end of October.
As a result, the nearby 400-unit apartment complex is suffering from vibration, noise, and dust.
In particular, it is said that the ground under the 40-unit apartment building right next to the construction site is connected to the underground bedrock of the construction site, so it is said that the vibration of the explosive explosion is transmitted as it is.
Enlarging an image
After the explosives began, the apartment's underground parking lot floor was severely cracked, causing concrete to come off, and cracks are also forming in the apartment's veranda, bathroom, and pillars, residents claim.
Residents write down the date of each crack in their apartment, and appeal to the ward office and construction companies to guarantee the safety of the apartment.
Resident A said, "When I saw the cracks in the apartment, I heard from experts that the explosion work was dangerous enough to have to stop right away. Even though the cracks in the apartment continue to form, the explosion work is being carried out. It's hard to believe. We have to hire a third party to do a safety check," he said.
He said, "The ward office and the construction company are in the position that some cracks in the apartment may have been formed before the explosion.
The ward office and construction companies are taking the position that there is no legal problem as the intensity of the shaking when the explosives explode does not exceed the standard value, but the anxiety felt by the residents is much greater, so they are struggling to come up with their own countermeasures.
Enlarging an image
An official from the ward office said, "Administrative guidance requires a violation of regulations, but this is not the case now. If there is no regulation violation, administrative guidance will hinder business. And we go out for on-site inspections once a week, and we invite outside experts to take a look.”
He said, "We are asking the construction company to control the amount and time of explosives." He said, "Currently, it seems that the regulations for explosives need to be revised.
An official from the construction company said, "For the safety of the residents, we are checking every day and we are trying our best to resolve concerns. To reduce the impact of the explosion, we are dividing the bundles of explosives into sub-divisions. The area adjacent to the apartment is trying to break stones with machines instead of blasting."
"We try to manage it so that it does not exceed the limits of damage to the building and the anxiety of residents," he added.
(Photo = Provided by informant A, Yonhap News)