Steve Yoon and Jooyeon Lee from ARUP had arranged an excursion to LG Science Park. LG Science Park is designed for LG Electronics and is a newly developed area in which its function mainly lies in improving technology science and smart solutions. ARUP itself was not involved in the project, but arranged the visit via GS E&C (contractor). LG Science Park was currently under construction and it was allowed to see some of the construction work of this project. There were many Koreans present (manager of the project, construction officer etc.), but few spoke English. Therefore, an interpreter was present. She was translating generally well, but the interpretation of the translation was sometimes hard, since specific terms of the construction industry were not always correctly translated.

The excursion started inside with a presentation from our side with some coffee and beverages. After this, a video from their side started about LG science park. The video was in Korean and there was no English translation. Therefore, little information could be obtained from this video. The video did show the function of LG Science Park (improving technology science &smart solutions). Further, it showed much attention to sustainability via the use of solar panels and promotion of electric cars.

The presentation from their side was more informative than the video, due to the presence of the interpreter. Specific design details were discussed about the park. LG Science Park is originally designed for the client LG Electronics. LG Electronics is a rather large electronics manufacturer and can be seen all around Seoul (for example Figure 2, with the view from our hotel on LG Electronics airconditioning). In total, 10 buildings were planned to be constructed. At the moment of the excursion, already 6 buildings were constructed and 4 were currently under construction (Figures 2, 3&4). The buildings would be 10 stories high (+47m) and 4 stories deep (-20m). At the moment of the excursion, they expected to be finished by 2024. The total costs of the whole project would be around 270 billion won (~200million euros). In total, around 250,000 people will work here when construction has finished.

         

The focus of the excursion was mainly based on the underground construction of the buildings. For the underground area, the walls were made before digging the inside soil out. This was to prevent any surrounding soil to be affected by the excavation works. These walls are called ‘slurry walls’ in the Civil Engineering industry. With the use of BC cutters, the holes were made for the concrete to be poured into make these slurry walls. To allow the BC cutter to dig these holes, guide walls were previously made, along which the BC cutter could move. After these holes are made, reinforcement is placed and concrete is poured in. Earth anchors would later be added to this wall to make sure the slurry walls remain stable.

After the presentation, it was possible to get a view of the construction site. It was not allowed to get a tour of the site itself due to safety reasons. They said safety regulations were very strict due to the recent growing awareness of safety on construction sites. Further, they mentioned that they experienced shortages of labour workers and a rising trend was seen in migrant workers from China.