Chihyeonsan Tunnel

As mentioned in the last post, about the construction accident at the Banghwa Bridge last Tuesday, the section of ramp which overturned was set to be connected to a tunnel running through Chihyeonsan. Here is the bridge before construction began in the fall of 2007:



Compare this to around three years later as access ramps were under construction (first posted here):

I took photos of retaining walls being built on the Banghwa-dong side during the spring of 2007:






By early 2009, less than two years later, the walls were done and the tunnels appeared to be as well:

Perhaps they were, but a concrete extension needed to be built (photo taken February 2012):

The same view from last Thursday;You might note the pavilion added at the edge of the forest:

A number of new paths have been built along the side of the mountain as well, likely part of the general efforts of the district to improve trails and amenities and expand park space over the past few years.

We can compare the view from the top of the tunnel between May 2007...



... and February2012:

A friend and I walked through the tunnels during that visit:

The service tunnel connecting the two tunnels; the western tunnel is lower than the eastern tunnel for most of its length:

Here is the concrete base for the steel ramp section which connects to the Olympic Expressway (on ramp) and eventually to the Banghwa Bridge, the arch of which is visible in the background. Does anyone else think the concrete base above is tilted? (Note that the streetlamps are upright, so it's not due to me tilting the camera.) It would have been a base like this, I think, which the ramp that fell was connected to.

Here's the accident site (over on the right) on the north side of Chihyeonsan before the tunnels even began construction.



Seven years after construction began, it'll be awhile before the tunnels ever see traffic (it was supposed to be finished next summer). This accident will slow things further, though I do hope they find out (or, at least, are allowed to share to the public) what happened that day.