The fatal bridge collapse on the Seoul-Sejong Expressway in Anseong, Gyeonggi, which killed four and injured six in February, was caused by negligence in safety management and supervision by both the contractor and the client, according to police and labor authorities.
Investigators found that a subcontractor removed key stabilizing equipment -- including screw jacks and wire ropes -- in violation of safety manuals, while the construction company and the Korea Expressway Corporation, the project owner, failed to intervene or conduct proper inspections.
The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency's special investigation team and the Ministry of Employment and Labor's Gyeonggi branch said Monday that they had requested pretrial detention warrants for five individuals: a subcontractor site manager; two client officials, including a Hyundai Engineering site manager and two supervising officers from the Korea Expressway Corporation.
They face charges of professional negligence resulting in death and injuries, as well as violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, in connection with the Feb. 25 accident at the Cheongyongcheon Bridge construction site in Sanpyeong-ri, Seoun-myeon, Anseong.
At 9:49 a.m. on Feb. 25, 24 girders collapsed in the process of moving a beam launcher -- a heavy lifting device used to install bridge segments -- on the Seoul-bound section of the bridge, killing four workers and injuring six.
The Cheongyongcheon Bridge, part of the expressway's Cheonan-Anseong section, is a 55-meter-high (60-yard-high) structure composed of 60 girders, split between a 265-meter Seoul-bound side and a 275-meter Sejong-bound side.
After installing 30 girders to a section of the bridge, workers were repositioning the beam launcher when the girders gave way.
The collapse occurred after stabilizing devices were dismantled without review, leaving girders unstable, according to assessments by the Korea Authority of Land & Infrastructure Safety under the Ministry of Land and Transportation, the National Forensic Service, the National Disaster Management Research Institute and the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency.
The 400-ton beam launcher was then moved across them without structural safety checks, triggering the failure.
Police said the subcontractor manager ordered the removal of stabilizing equipment as early as October last year, ahead of girder installation work. Screw jacks were removed on Jan. 17, when no work was taking place due to equipment malfunction, to prepare for reuse on the Sejong-bound section. Wire ropes were taken down because they were deemed to interfere with subsequent work.
"Without verifying structural stability or maintaining horizontal alignment of the girders, the beam launcher was moved backward, leading to the collapse," a police official said.
The Hyundai Engineering site manager and the Korea Expressway Corporation's supervisors were also accused of negligence for allowing the unauthorized dismantling of safety equipment.
In addition, nine others, including a CEO of a subcontractor company, were booked without detention for professional negligence and violating the Construction Technology Promotion Act by failing to have a licensed engineer verify safety while using the temporary beam launcher.
"This accident was the result of complex, overlapping negligence," a police spokesperson said. "Subcontractors dismantled stabilizing equipment against safety manuals, and the construction company and client failed in their duty of supervision. We plan to recommend requiring mandatory safety management plans for beam launcher movements to prevent recurrence."
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY CHOI MO-RAN [[email protected]]