Mansae-gu, a district in Hwaseong, said Wednesday that officials discovered a crack in a retaining wall while carrying out emergency repairs to a private road in Doi-ri, Hyangnam-eup. The road had been damaged by recent heavy rain, and the district blocked traffic on it immediately upon finding the crack Tuesday as part of urgent safety measures.
According to Mansae-gu's Safety and Construction Division, the trouble began when the road surface on a private lot in the district cracked during the downpour. The district carried out emergency repairs right away, then returned to the scene after the rain stopped — with the landowner's consent — to draw up a permanent restoration plan.
While inspecting the site more closely, officials spotted additional cracks and other signs of trouble in the retaining wall that supports the road from below. Judging that weakened ground posed a high risk of a chain-reaction collapse, the Safety and Construction Division immediately filed an emergency report with police at 112. Working closely with the local police station, it completely blocked vehicle and pedestrian access to the road.
Mansae-gu has dispatched safety experts to the site for a detailed assessment and plans to begin emergency reinforcement work based on their findings.
The response stands out as a case of careful follow-up inspection — rather than a lax administrative response — preemptively preventing a major disaster. Concerns over secondary damage from the heavy rain remain high.
Ah Seung-ho, head of Mansae-gu's Safety and Construction Division, said, "It was a chilling situation — if we had neglected to check the site just because the rain had stopped, it could have led to serious casualties and property damage." He added, "We will make residents' safety our top priority and complete the permanent restoration quickly and safely, based on expert diagnosis."
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