Bridge Accident

[Anchor Lead]

An inspection has confirmed the safety of Gawangan Bridge in Busan, which was hit by a Russian cargo ship late last month. A traffic ban on the bridge will be fully lifted as soon as a repair is completed. The Busan city government plans to demand that the ship owner pay the repair and construction costs.

[Pkg]

A 6,000-ton cargo ship hits Gwangan Bridge. The clash caused the rupture of a structure supporting the bridge as well as cracks in shock-absorbing equipment. Inspections by the Korea Infrastructure Safety Corporation confirm that there are no problems with the safety of piers and columns of the bridge. A traffic ban on the bridge will be lifted on May 1 after a month-long repair, which will begin next week.

[Soundbite] Yoo Deok-yong(Korea Infrastructure Safety Corp.) : "We propose that the parts that were severely damaged, deformed and pressed be completely removed and replaced. Traffic can resume when the bridge is repaired through this way."

The repair will replace only the damaged parts with new materials. The Busan city government will demand that the cargo ship's owner pay the repair costs

[Soundbite] Choo Yeon-gil(Head of Busan Infrastructure Safety Corp.) : "We have hired a lawyer to make the cargo ship owner pay the compensation and costs of the repair, which we will conduct first."

The city government is considering installing more surveillance cameras and enhancing a monitoring system on the bridge in order to prevent the recurrence of similar accidents in the future.