Press Release

Board View

The Green New Deal to Strengthen Dam Safety Management

Date:
2020-07-06
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▷ 'Smart Dam Safety Management System' will be established using the 4th Industrial Revolution technologies, including drones, three-dimensional virtual spaces, and AI.

▷ The Environment Minister Cho Myung-rae inspected the National Safety Inspection site at the Daecheong Dam and emphasized the importance of a thorough safety inspection.


As part of the Green New Deal project, the Ministry of Environment (Minister Cho Myung-rae) will start using drones for dam safety management from the second half of 2020, and establish the 'Smart Dam Safety Management System' based on three-dimensional virtual spaces (digital twins) and artificial intelligence (AI) in phases by 2025.

* Digital twins: a technology to create digital replicas of real machines and equipment to detect and solve potential problems that can occur in the real world

** Artificial intelligence: a technology to emulate human intelligence with computers, including the capabilities to ① recognize the situation, ② make decisions and act rationally and logically, and ③ execute emotional and creative functions


The ministry added 1 billion 312 million won to its third supplementary budget of 2020, including the costs to purchase new drones and hire the personnel required to operate drones, to accelerate the process.


Furthermore, K-water, an affiliate of the ministry, will establish the 'Dam Safety Management Center (tentative)' to oversee safety inspection and management of dams for more systematic management of dam infrastructure.


The Environment Minister Cho Myung-rae visited the National Safety Inspection site at the Daecheong Dam (near the Daecheong Dam Water Culture Center in Daedeok-gu, Daejeon) in the afternoon of July 6th. The minister was briefed about how to utilize drones for a safety inspection.


He was also told about the 'Smart Dam Safety Management System' that uses the 4th Industrial Revolution technologies (digital twins, AI) to detect abnormalities in dams.


"It is imperative to conduct a thorough inspection without overlooking any blind spots," emphasized Minister Cho. "Please do your best to implement cutting-edge technologies for a dam safety inspection, so that the new inspection system to be one of the iconic projects of the Green New Deal."


'Dam Safety Inspection Using Drones' is a smart inspection method that films the conditions of dams with drones, and then recreates the videos in 3D graphics to detect possible damages on walls and other parts of dams.


Drones can approach the parts of dams where people could not approach by climbing down with ropes for visual inspection, allowing more thorough inspection.


Category  Previous visual inspection using naked eyes  Inspection using drones (improvement plan)  Ground safety inspection  Aerial drones  Underwater safety inspection  Underwater drones
 

The photos and videos taken by drones will be accumulated in the three-dimensional virtual space (digital twins), which is planned to be established from 2021. AI will use the accumulated data (big data) to discover abnormalities. 


The high technologies that allow proactive repair and fortification of dams will improve the crisis response capabilities of dam operators. 


Also, it is expected that the improvement of old dams will be led to more safely operated for a longer period.


"We will implement the Smart Dam Safety Management System according to the plan to reinforce our crisis response capabilities and ensure a continuous water use for the people," stated Minister Cho.