Russian NTV (‘HTB’ in Russian Cyrillic alphabet) team visited Korea to cover the case of the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project. NTV is the one of the three major broadcasting companies (being others include ‘Channel One Russia’, ‘TNT’, ‘Vesti 24’ and ‘RT’). NTV’s broadcasting range covers whole Russia Federation, Middle East, Europe and even USA with over 30 million viewers around the world.
After the NTV team visited the Office of National River Restoration to have interview with Mr. SHIM Myeong-Phil, the head of the authority, they moved to the field of Han River Revitalization Project and had the Ipo Weir and the Gangchon Weir in cameras. Their coverage focused on: how could we renovate the nature without damage to; how do we overcome the flood and inundation; and what are our plans for green economy, environment and tourism on the base of the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project. The video clips they recorded are to be released as a report type from the ‘Segodnya’ (Сегодня, literally means ‘Today’) at the golden time of 19:00 of Sunday.
The followings are summarized substance of head director SHIM’s answers at the interview with Russian NTV team.
What is the reason Korea carries forward the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project? What kind of problems in Korean rivers brought you to start this much big nature renovation project?
The rivers in Korea have been exposed under threat of flood due to long-time accumulated sediments, time-worn embankments, inadequate flood-control capacity of multi-purpose dams and insufficiency of management. In addition to those things, owing to definite shortage for water securing comparing with constantly increasing needs for water, illegal using alternation for riparian land and riverbed’s drying out phenomenon during dry season, riparian ecosystems are severely threatened. Also, the need for enjoying much more leisure and tourism, but insufficient investment on rivers brought to low application rate for riparian area.
What is the ultimate goal of the Project and when will it be completed?
Coping with climate change in active way, seeking diversification of securing water resources and switching to new concept policy of waterway management, these can be said as our goal. Ultimately, it is for active application of riparian area as harmonization between nature and human. As to the period of project, dredging, construction of weirs, building infrastructure of riparian area of the main rivers is to be finished within 2011, and works on tributaries, dams and agricultural reservoirs are to be ended in 2012.
During the project, if any, what kind of technical difficulties you had? If available, tell us any other foreign countries’ cases like this much huge project.
Since Korea has already hold world level technology in mega construction area like rapid transit railway, mega-bridge construction, there are no specific difficulty in processing the project. All the more, by successfully integrated management of weirs affiliated with IT technology, it is highly anticipated that we will mark the leading role model in the relevant field. About the foreign cases, there is ‘Room for the River’ on the Rheine of the Netherlands as flood protection system by dredging. As I know of, most countries of Europe and USA construct and manage multiple weirs and dams for river management like flood control, securing water and creation of riparian areas.
What kind of new technologies were adopted for fulfilling this project?
Typically, since the 16 multipurpose weirs which are to be constructed in the four major rivers include special type of sluice gates (30 to 50 meters), they need meticulous handling and considerable know-how in design, production and construction. Moreover, because that we should carry out diverse functions not only level control and flood protection but water quality management, precise construction is highly needed in consideration of future management. In the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project, we plan to systematically integrate various cutting-edge technologies of IT, RT, GT and more for effective management for rivers.
Relating with the Project, what do you think about oppoitions or worries from environment groups?
The Four Major Rivers Restoration Project is eco-friendly enterprise to raise up the biodiversity and to secure sufficient and clean water resources. The length of ecological waterways which are included to the project reaches to 929 km (incl. the four major rivers), we plan to take up riparian farmlans of 160 million m² and to remove the illegal vinyl greenhouses so to turn it back to natural rivers. Among total shore protections, pure concrete ones are merely 0.2%. Therefore, worries about whole the rivers will be covered bt concrete are actually totally far from the fact. And after 2 to 3 years from completion of the project, they will be completed restored so to make rivers as truly ‘living’ rivers.
