Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society ISSN:1229-2427(Print) 2288-646X(Online) 한국지반공학회 논문집

Sinkholes have occurred in various places around the world and concerns about public safety have been raised in recent years. Particularly, a ground subsidence may occur due to a variety of conditions when developing underground spaces. Ground subsidence refers to the sinking of the Earth’s surface caused by the loss of the soil constituting ground due to a certain artificial cause in the ground. Ground subsidence is induced by artificial causes such as the leakage of water supply/sewage pipes and groundwater disturbance, and it is different from a sinkhole, where the sinking of the Earth’s surface is induced by the cavity formed due to the melting of limestone in the ground with limestone bedrock. In recent underground development in the urban areas of Korea, damages to surrounding buildings have frequently led to many difficulties with civil complaints and compensation issues, and the collapse of some buildings has resulted in the loss of lives and property. Accordingly, the central government has legislated the Special Act on Underground Safety Management, which will take effect from January 1, 2018. This law specifies an underground safety management system for securing underground safety, under which underground safety impact assessment is performed for projects involving underground excavation work that exceeds a certain size, and safety inspection is regularly performed for underground facilities and the surrounding ground. In this study, the contents of the special act on underground safety management are reviewed, and the direction of development of underground safety policy for preparing preemptive underground safety management preparation and response system is suggested.