When winter comes, some areas of Seoul, South Korea, especially in mountainous areas, will face snow and ice problems on the roads, making it difficult for people to travel and even causing serious traffic accidents. In recent years, some areas have installed road heating systems, which automatically activate every time the weather is cold, and take the initiative to melt ice and snow.
South Korea's "** reported on the 24th, citing data from the South Korean road traffic department, that in the past five years, a total of 4,609 traffic accidents were caused by dark ice on the road, resulting in 107 deaths and 7,728 injuries.
Seongdong-gu, located in the eastern part of Seoul, has a mountainous area where the temperature dropped to minus 14 degrees Celsius last week, and there was also heavy snowfall. "In the past, every time it snowed, buses couldn't run on mountain roads," said Liu, a 61-year-old bus driver, who severely affected the travel of thousands of residents in the nearby community.
But in early December, a heating system was installed under the road, and the anxiety of people in the past is gone.
According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government**, this heating system is installed 5 to 7 centimeters below the road surface and automatically activates when the temperature drops below 2 degrees Celsius, heating the road surface temperature to 5 to 10 degrees Celsius, which can melt 3 to 5 centimeters of snow per hour.
However, the cost of such a system is too high, costing about 100 million won (about 550,000 yuan) per 100 meters. According to a member of the Seoul Metropolitan Government, due to the limited budget, the installation site needs to be carefully selected and decided based on factors such as local slope, traffic volume, and accident rate.
Statistics show that in recent years, a total of 419 road heating systems have been installed in Seoul, covering 6596 km of pavement.
Yang Zhengmu, a taxi driver, said in an interview with ** after a snowfall on December 20: "I started work at 4 a.m. and have already witnessed four traffic accidents. They said it would be colder tomorrow and I was a little worried about the dark ice on the road. Heating the road can really be a lifesaver. ”
Some areas have also installed heating systems under sidewalks for pedestrian convenience. Currently, there are a total of 11 sidewalk heating systems in Seoul, which are mainly installed at bus stops on slopes and at the entrances of elementary schools.
Experts are calling for more similar systems to be installed to address the aging of the population.
Kang Jin-hwan, a researcher at the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, said: "Countries with a more aging population, such as Japan, are installing a large number of sidewalk heating systems. These are good examples, and we need to start thinking more about infrastructure for those who are vulnerable. ”