ULLEUNG ISLAND, North Gyeongsang Province — A state-run airport building challenge on Ulleung Island has reached practically 70 % completion this month, however is dealing with robust native opposition to its present design.
Some native residents are involved that the coastal airport’s 1,200-meter runway is simply too quick to make sure flight security, urging the federal government to increase the construction — whose underwater basis, constructed 30 meters under sea stage, has already been accomplished. Nonetheless, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has rejected the demand, calling it pointless.
The islanders initially welcomed the challenge when the airport was categorized as a “2C” facility — a classification beneath the Worldwide Civil Aviation Group requirements and home aviation regulation set by the ministry, which requires a minimal runway size of 800 to 1,200 meters and limits operations to plane with wingspans between 24 and 36 meters.
Nonetheless, three years after building started in 2020, the ministry reclassified the airport as a “3C” facility, which requires a minimal runway size of between 1,200 and 1,800 meters.
The choice got here after the federal government decided {that a} 2C classification — which limits plane capability to 50 seats or fewer — can be economically unviable. Upgrading to 3C and permitting plane with as much as 80 seats would assist tackle the profitability situation.
A rendering of the deliberate Ulleung Island Airport / Courtesy of Ulleung County Workplace
The federal government is at the moment creating measures comparable to putting in runway lights, enhancing climate forecasting techniques, including a localizer and securing a runway finish security space to make sure the airport’s present design stays protected regardless of the class change.
The residents, nevertheless, are usually not proud of the present design, claiming that it can not accommodate 80-seat plane and must be prolonged to 1,500 meters to stop deadly accidents.
A Jeju Air flight that crashed whereas touchdown at Muan Worldwide Airport in South Jeolla Province final December, killing 179 individuals, nonetheless haunts the island’s residents.
Ulleung County head Nam Han-kwon shares their issues.
“The airport is being constructed beneath a few of the nation’s harshest climate situations, with frequent robust gusts, so its security must be prioritized above all. Nonetheless, regardless of increasing to accommodate 80-seat plane, the airport retains its authentic design. This will increase the danger of accidents throughout takeoff and touchdown and threatens the airport’s long-term operation,” the residents mentioned in an announcement.
The federal government, nevertheless, downplayed the issues, insisting that enough security measures will likely be carried out. It added that altering the present plan would price a further 1 trillion received ($681 million) and prolong the development interval by three years.
“Extending the runway from its present design will disrupt radar from a navy base working on the island. In addition to, the airport will likely be restricted to servicing small-size airplanes. For pilots in these planes, 1,200 meters or 1,500 meters doesn’t imply a lot distinction,” mentioned Kim Hyun-gi of Korea Engineering Consultants Corp., head of the challenge’s building administration.
Constructed partially on reclaimed land, with a runway strip measuring 1,320 meters by 150 meters, the challenge is described by the federal government as having the world’s highest engineering issue. To create a concrete basis on the island’s deepest ocean stage, 30 caissons have been manufactured in Pohang, 210 kilometers away on the southeast coast, and transported to the island over the course of 35 months. Every caisson stands as tall as a 12-story house and weighs 16,000 tons, making them the biggest ever utilized in a building challenge in Korea.
To create the 430,000-square-meter website, a close-by mountain is being excavated to supply sufficient earth to lift the world by 46 meters.
The airport, funded with 662 billion received from the federal government and 217 billion received from Korea Airports Corp., is scheduled for completion in 2027.
