Dutch firm DHV consulting engineers and Korea Water Resources Corporation (K-water) have signed a Memorandum Of Understanding for work on the Gyeong-in Ara Waterway, one of the largest water-related projects under development in South-Korea.
The Gyeong-in Ara Waterway is 18km long and has a width of 80m. The waterway will connect South Korea’s capital city Seoul to the coastal city of Incheon and the West Sea.
Project developer K-water and DHV will cooperate for the next five years and will share knowledge and expertise for the project. Among other things the waterway requires locks at its entrance near Incheon to cope with a possible 8m spring tide difference.
The MOU was signed by Kim, Jong-Hae, executive director of K-water’s Gyeong-in Ara Waterway Business Division and by Wim Klomp, project director Ports, Waterways and Coastal Development, with DHV on 28 April 2010.
Under the MoU, DHV will employ its knowledge and experience in planning, design and construction supervision, gained in large water-related projects such as Nakdong Barrier near Busan (South-Korea), the storm surge barrier of St. Petersburg (Russia) and the expansion of the Panama Locks.
The Gyeong-in Ara Waterway is necessary to increase flood control for parts of Seoul and improve logistics between Incheon and Seoul.
Artist’s impression of the waterway project