A view of the first section of the No. 65 Highway between Samcheok and Donghae City in Gangwon Province, which is targeted to be completed in December, next year.

An aerial view of the first section of the No. 65 Highway linking Samcheok and Donghae City in Gangwon Province. The section starts from Wol-ri, Yangyang Village, Yangyang County, and Sangpeong-ri, Seo-Myeon, Yangyang Country, Gangwon Province, a distance of 3.08 km.

Management Team Head of Heunghwa Construction Chang Young-hwan at his office at the jobsite.(Photos:HeungHwa)

The No. 65 four-lane highway linking Samcheok and Donghae City in Gangwon Province is set for completion by the end of next year. The highway will have six tunnels and 23 bridges.

The 18.6 km and is 23.4m wide roadway is being built at the cost of 585.4 billion won.

The feasibility study on the highway was concluded in January 2004, with the basic design completed in July 2006. Construction kicked off in March 2009.

The new highway will be an environmentally friendly roadway with all kinds of new construction technologies being utilized. The designed speed limit will be set at 100 km per hour.

When the highway is completed, is expected to spur tourism and development in the East Coast region of the province.

Five construction companies including Hyundai Development, led by Gil Yong-man as the project manager; GS Construction with Deputy Manager Chung Jang-kyo as the jobsite manager; Hanjin Heavy Industries with Manager Lee Yu-ho as the jobsite manager; and Heunghwa E&C with Chang Yong-hwan as the project manager are engaging in the construction of the highway.

The new four-lane highway’s first section starts from Wol-ri, Yangyang Village, Yangyang County, Gangwon Province and ends in Sangpyeong-ri, Seo-Myon, Yangyang County, Gangwon Province, at a total length of 3.08 km and 23.4 m in width. That part of the road will have four lanes with the construction period extending from January 2009 to December 2016, with total investment projected at 137.2 billion won.

There will be 15 bridges along the highway section including seven large ones and eight smaller ones taking up 2,355m in total length. Some 37,923 cubic meters of the highway section are designed to be paved with concrete, while 45 acres will have asphalt covers. 

Two entrance points — one at Yangyang Interchange and the other at Yangyang Nadlemok —and a management office will be built in that stretch of the highway.

Three construction firms have been assigned to build the highway section, including Heunghwa Construction (responsible for 67 percent of the roadway), Jinheung Enterprise (responsible for 18 percent of the roadway) and Woorim Construction (responsible for 15 percent of the roadway).