The 108-story Lotte World building has recently gathered public attention as a man-made lake nearby lost a huge amount of water and a series of sinkholes opened up on roads which caused widespread panic among residents.(image:Lotte Engineering & Construction)
SEOUL, Sept. 4 (Korea Bizwire) – The Seoul metropolitan city government said on September 3 that it would determine whether to fully open the lower floors of the second Lotte World building in Seoul’s Jamshil after tentatively allowing a ten-day “pre-open” period. During the period, groups of citizens will visit the building to see whether the building is perfectly safe as the builder says it is.
The 108-story Lotte World building has recently gathered public attention as a man-made lake nearby lost a huge amount of water and a series of sinkholes opened up on roads which caused widespread panic among residents.
According to the city government, the five sinkholes and a big cave created within an underpass under construction in the Jamshil area had little to do with the building’s construction. Given the citizens are not fully convinced of the safety of the building and the surrounding area, however, the government has decided to let citizen experts and ordinary citizens come and inspect themselves.
Separately, the city government has commissioned a project to survey the area to find out the causes of water level drawdown. The project, implemented by a consortium of Korea Rural Community Corporation and GeoGreen, will continue until May next year.
Lotte Group is also busy surveying the lake’s underneath in partnership with the Korean Geotechnical Society, the Korea Potamology Association, and Britain’s Arup Group Limited. The Seoul city government will also involve in the project to supervise the progress.
By Sean Chung (schung10@koreabizwire.com)
