It’s no easy task to prepare a city for such big-scale events, but it’s a great opportunity for host cities to boost their economy and make a lasting impression on visitors. For most, the airport will be their first impression of the city, so host cities have vamped-up their airports with the help of steel.  

Take a look at the airports expecting the most traffic in the beginning of the year:

Guarulhos International Airport – Brazil

Every year, from February 24 to 28, the people of Rio de Janeiro hold the Carnival, which unofficially lasts from the end of December to March in the form of hundreds of street parties called blocos. In 2017, more than 1.1 million people showed up for the Carnival from all over the world and spent about USD 782 million during their stay. The Guarulhos International Airport (GRU) is the busiest airport in Brazil, and traffic has tripled from 12.9 million people in 2004 to 39.5 million in 2014. To accommodate the growing number of passengers, the airport has undergone several additions and renovations in the past couple of years.

Terminal 3 at Guarulhos International Airport opened in 2014 ahead of the FIFA World Cup. (Source: Passenger Terminal Today)

Ahead of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, GRU built the 192,000 square-meter Terminal 3 to increase its passenger capacity by 12 million, bringing up the total capacity to 42 million. Terminal 3 consists of 2 main buildings made up of 40 metal modules weighing 70 tons each, held together by concrete pillars.

Then, in 2016, Terminal 2 was renovated ahead of the Summer Olympic Games to fit modern airport standards. With a budget of USD 50 million, architects took existing facilities that were close to 30 years old and rebuilt them into the modernized Terminal 2. The new terminal now accommodates plenty of retail space and a massive food court, and non-aeronautical revenues make up 51 percent of the airport’s entire revenue.

It seems the airport, and the city, made a lasting impression as last year, over 94 percent of tourists that took part in a survey said they would make another trip to the city and over 91 percent responded they would recommend Rio to their friends.

Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport – USA

The Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) is another airport that sees millions of visitors every year during the month of February. Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, landed on February 13 this year, marking the end of a month-long celebration. It’s basically the American version of the Rio Carnival, and social crews or Krewes organize different parties all over town. The event draws about 1.4 million participants on average.

The Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport’s North Terminal is scheduled for completion in 2019. (Source: Atkins)

Starting in 2016, MSY is working to complete a 972,000 square-foot North Terminal by February 2019. The project will cost about USD 1 billion to construct. When finished, the new terminal will include 35 new gates, a massive parking garage for 2200 cars as well as a central utility plant.

Besides increasing the passenger capacity, the project created about 64,000 jobs and generated USD 6.4 billion in local spending and USD 2.4 billion in local earnings. The project is also responsible for tons of steel consumption in the form of beams, bars and panels. On November 17, 2017, workers erected a steel beam at the highest elevation of the new terminal, signaling the project will most likely be completed on schedule.

Incheon International Airport – Korea

It’s not every year Korea gets thousands of visitors in the month of February, but as the host for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, Incheon International Airport (ICN) is bustling with passengers. Global passenger flights were up 15 percent this year compared to last year, and up 24 percent in the U.S. alone. In Vietnam, bookings were up 550 percent from the previous year, the Philippines saw a 200 percent increase and Canadians booked 40 percent more flights, all in time for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Incheon International Airport’s second passenger terminal opened on January 18, 2018. (Source: Medium)

To greet the growing number of passengers, ICN completed its second terminal earlier this year using POSCO’s 446M steel. The same type of steel was used to build the first passenger terminal in 2001, but this time, architects decided to apply a special process called Bead Blast to create a rough texture on the roof of the terminal to minimize reflectivity as it can interfere with sight during take-off and landing. The steel also contains high amounts of chromium (26%) and molybdenum (2%), making it extra corrosion resistant.

As the #1 ranked airport in service quality for the last 10 years, ICN will now be able to service more passengers, 72 million to be exact, and 5.8Mt of cargo every year.

SEE ALSO: POSCO’s World Premium Stainless Steel Products, Preferred Option for Strength and Beauty

Airports play a central role in the tourism industry of its respective country, and the national economy as a whole. Steel continues to be the most widely-used construction material for the building and renovation of bustling airports around the world, and will continue to help cities make a lasting impression on all its visitors.

Cover photo courtesy of Wilmotte & Associés.

This means that data from city dwellers’ devices and their interaction with the physical city will determine how the government allocates resources and even influence the private sector as well. Although major developing smart cities are inspired by technology, old-school construction resources like steel are still required.

Here’s a look at where the next wave of smart cities will emerge and what opportunities lie ahead.

Countries Ripe for Smart Development

The major developing cities to watch are located in India, China and Africa. These areas of the world are ripe for growth, and what they have in common is a vast amount of land. Before modern ICT and IoT were available, it was almost impossible to imagine a way to uniformly connect these large areas into a single city. However, thanks to technology, governments will be able to bring greater numbers of people together and better manage resources for all. And development is already well underway.

India

In India, the “world’s oldest city” is being developed into a smart city. The city is called Varanasi, and it’s a holy place for the Hindu religion. However, its outdated infrastructure has created a demand for rejuvenation, and Varanasi’s renovation plans involve a lot of steel. With plans to outpace Japan as the second largest producer of steel, Varanasi will be rapidly expanding its own production capacity and turning to the global steel industry for material and technological support. Planned improvements to Varanasi include creating more affordable housing, improving the public transportation system and upgrading the sanitation system. All three of these improvements are major undertakings, and all three have roots in steel. Creating new housing structures, rail systems and modern sanitation will boost steel consumption.

SEE ALSO: Revving Up for Growth: India’s Automotive Market is In Full Gear

A model of the planned smart city in Dholera, in southern Gujarat, India. (Source: Cities Digest)

Aside from Varanasi, there were nearly 100 cities considered for smart city development in India, and approximately 20 of those have been approved by the Indian government for funding. The smart cities on India’s shortlist come from a variety of regions. This redevelopment project is part of a larger goal by the Indian government to bring the large country together. By implementing smart city technology throughout the vast country, India will be able to create a better-organized society.

China

China is rapidly developing its smart cities. With plenty of funding and technology to spare, the Chinese government has earmarked 500 cities for smart city development. While the original goal was to complete the transformation for all 500 cities by the end of 2017, more than half of the listed cities are still undergoing development.

So far, Qingdao, Hangzhou and Xiamen cities are ranked at the top for smart city governance according to the National Development and Reform Commission and the China Center for Urban Development. These cities are already equipped with wifi internet service on buses, smart register and pay services and robots that interact with citizens on a daily basis. Hangzhou, in particular, has been a sort of test tube for Alibaba’s City Brain project where they gathered massive amounts of data for artificial intelligence (AI) to process and make decisions with. The technology has drastically improved the city’s efficiency by decreasing traffic and the time it takes to respond to emergencies. As a result, City Brain will be exported to and implemented in other Chinese cities. Although not everyone is sold on the idea because the technology may put citizens’ privacy at risk, it is still expected to speed up smart city implementation all over China.

Tianjin City is one of the cities in China developing into a smart city. (Source: Bosch)

These cities will require support from the steel industry to develop and engineer high-quality, high-traffic amenities with technology at the core. Similar to Varanasi, many Chinese city projects will initially focus on housing and transportation upgrades.

SEE ALSO: Ask an Expert: 3 Managers Explain POSCO China’s Success in Challenging Chinese Market

Africa

In Africa, over 300 cities will transition into smart cities, but many development projects are facing delays getting off the ground. Much of Africa is in need of establishing standard city amenities like city government offices, schools and an open market for privately-owned businesses. Nevertheless, the region presents a tremendous opportunity for growth, and Africa’s smart cities may become some of the most efficient locations around the world.

The Modderfontein Smart City is being developed in Johannesburg by Chinese firm Zendai. (Source: Future Cape Town)

Because there is a lack of complex infrastructure, these smart cities will be built almost from scratch, allowing the people of the city to benefit from a more customized smart-city technology. Instead of working around a historical route or building, African smart cities have the flexibility to transition into smart cities optimized for the exact needs of their developing governments, education systems and business communities.

The construction of African smart cities will start from scratch. (Source: SOFREP)

This is a city planner’s dream come true. And it’s ripe for steel consumption. The steel industry can provide high-quality materials and technologies, ensuring the best construction methods and materials from the onset. Without having to re-engineer structures, African smart cities are expected to be state of the art.

While opportunities are vast in this new arena of development, many of the top steel companies have already signed contracts with developing countries to assist with smart city production. But that doesn’t mean all of the work has been assigned. With thousands of cities slated to go smart within the next five years, the steel industry will have many opportunities and play a large role in the redevelopment of these communities. Steel companies that have an eye for technology and the highest quality products will be highly sought after in the years to come.

Cover photo courtesy of IoT India Magazine.

Hong Kong is one of the world’s leading financial centers and houses the world’s 6th busiest port. Macau is home to world’s most well-known casinos, shops, and restaurants. Despite a population of a little more than 500,000, Macau welcomes more than 30 million visitors annually. On the mainland side sit Zhuhai and Shenzhen, two of the fastest growing cities in the world that represent one of the world’s largest and most important manufacturing bases.

A portion of the HZMB that will connect Macau, Zhuhai, and Hong Kong

Despite the region’s economic power and influence, many parts of it are still left to the whims of the weather. Travel between Macau, Hong Kong, and the mainland is limited as there are no roads connecting them. The most common route is by ferry, although those with means can choose to go by helicopter.

The HZMB spans 50 km connecting multiple sections with bridges and a tunnel (Image courtesy of Google Earth)

Being limited to ferries means that traffic is stopped in the event of typhoons, floods, or other bad weather. While ferries typically run every 15 minutes, service is severely limited from midnight to 7 am. This means that any late night plans to stay in these Cinderella cities should be cut short.

The construction of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB) is set to alleviate some of these problems while bringing the region closer together economically.

Bridge + Tunnel

First proposed in 1988, construction finally began in 2009 and is expected to be completed in December 2017. The HZMB spans a total of 50 km with the main bridge portion stretching out to almost 23 km. When completed, that piece alone will be one of the longest bridges in the world.

The tunnel section of the HZMB is 4 stories high and can accommodate six lanes of traffic. (Photo courtesy of hzmb.hk)

Because large container ships still need access to the seas, HZMB combines an undersea tunnel as part of the infrastructure. The tunnel is in addition to three large cable supported bridges that will allow ships to pass underneath.

This artificial island is the submergence point for traffic as they begin their descent to the tunnel portion. (Image courtesy of Google Earth)

Building the tunnels has not been easy and they have been the source of many of the delays in opening the bridge. The tunnel runs for 6 km more than 40 m beneath the seabed. Because the tunnel sits in the middle of the main bridge section, two artificial islands were built for cars to transition from above water to underwater to underground. Following the lines of a bridge, the road suddenly disappears in the middle of the sea like a scene out of a sci-fi movie.

Breaking Barriers, Connecting the Region

The HZMB is built to last 120 years and engineers had to adhere to the strict construction standards of Hong Kong, Macau, and China.

It also had to be built to withstand typhoons, tidal waves (check out these photos if you doubt the severity of typhoons in the region) and increased traffic to and from the islands.

The front page of the Sunday Herald shows a common headline the day after a typhoon hit Hong Kong in 1962. (Image courtesy of the South China Morning Post)

With the added connectivity that the bridge brings, there are anticipated economic benefits on all sides. Those in Zhuhai traveling to the Hong Kong airport will have their commute reduced from 4 hours to 40 minutes. Visitors going from Hong Kong to Macau will have their commute shortened from almost one hour to 35 minutes. And those traveling from Hong Kong to the Western areas of the Pearl River Delta will have just a 3-hour drive.

Despite the complicated engineering, regulations from three different governing districts, and high costs, the HZMB will soon be a reality. The bridge will provide an important link between Hong Kong, Macau, and Zhuhai, bringing together one of the most powerful financial districts in the world with the heart of industrial China.

Here are ten interesting ways steel is used at sea.

Early Ships

In 1940, the construction of the world’s first all-welded ship, the SS Exchequer, was completed in Mississippi, US. The steel plates of the cargo vessel’s hull were welded end-to-end rather than overlapped and riveted—a technique that revolutionized shipbuilding at the time.

Since then, ships have been made almost exclusively of welded steel, thanks to the material’s affordability and lightweight properties.

Flood Protection

Steel plays a crucial role in protecting our lands from floods. Its durability and sheer strength make it an ideal underwater barrier to protect cities that are at high risk of flooding.

The Thames Barrier, for example, fortifies central London from floods caused by tidal surges. Weighing in at 3,700 tons, the barrier is made up of 10 steel gates and stretches 520 meters across the Thames River, the UK’s most famous waterway.

Artificial Reefs

Hurricane-resistant steel has been used to create hundreds of wave-resistant barriers that surround the shorelines of the Caribbean, American Gulf Coast and Southeast Asia.

Some of these steel reefs have been designed to force waves to break offshore and deposit their energy in a different area than directly on the coastline, thus protecting beaches. Others hold in sediment on beaches to prevent coastal erosion, while still others promote water activities like surfing.

Marine Life Preservation

What do you get when you toss some 25,000 decommissioned New York subway cars into the ocean? A marine life habitat, of course.

Primarily consisting of steel, the Redbird Reef off the eastern coast of the United States has functioned as a source of sanctuary and food for marine life, offering more viable conditions for the growth of nutrients and organisms than the sand bottom.

Meanwhile, other materials like steel slag have been used to promote marine forestation in damaged marine ecosystems.

Powering Renewable Energy

Steel is an essential material used in the development of tidal energy solutions worldwide, from the poles which secure turbines to the ground to their rotating blades. Considering the fact that tidal energy could eventually satisfy more than 20 percent of global energy demand, steel plays a key role in unlocking the renewable energy capacity of our oceans.

Similarly, steel makes up around 80 percent of all materials used to construct wind turbines that emit minimal carbon dioxide when producing energy.

Megaships

When it comes to building the world’s biggest megaships, there’s no material as favored by engineers than steel.

Take the Royal Caribbean International’s Harmony of the Seas cruise ship, for example. It was constructed with 227,000 tons of steel—enough material to build 31 Eiffel Towers. Standing upright, it is 210 feet tall, more than three times the height of London’s Olympic Stadium, and is nearly as long as four soccer fields combined.

Undersea Tunnels

Noting the comparable advantages undersea tunnels have over bridges, like their ability to divert traffic and not be affected by external factors, city planners began incorporating them into city layouts in the late 1800s.

The first notion of the Channel Tunnel, which connects England and France, was proposed in 1802, but didn’t become a reality until the 1960s. With 400 trains carrying 50,000 passengers and 54,000 tons of freight passing through it every day, steel reinforces other materials to keep the tunnel strong and sturdy.

Shipping

Ninety percent of global cargo is carried by sea. Because the size of steel ships and containers allows for enormous loads to be transported in a single trip, the majority of the 17 million shipping containers currently in use are made from steel.

Included among these shipping giants are Maersk’s Triple-E, the largest cargo ship in the world. It can fit approximately 18,000 shipping containers—enough space for 36,000 cars or 108 million pairs of sneakers!

Submarines

While submarine designs and oceanic capabilities have advanced over the centuries, one thing has remained constant—their steel construction.

Steel has the ability to withstand corrosion and avoid oxidizing reactions such as rust. It is also lightweight enough that it can be fast and effective in maneuvering underwater. As a result, the submarine’s steel body has enabled it to accomplish extraordinary expeditions, including James Cameron’s DEEPSEA CHALLENGER’s voyage to the deepest known part of the Earth.

Connecting the World

Steel is essential in the construction of canals. It is used to form the structure which supports the entire operation and is also utilized to make the locks so that they are tough enough to withstand extreme forces like water pressure.

The Panama Canal, for instance, is the largest canal in the world, with around 14,000 ships passing through it annually. Thanks to a system of large steel locks, the canal connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

This article is based on the #lovesteel materials published by the World Steel Association.

Submarines: The Ocean’s Steel Whales

Steel Solutions in Wind Power

Steel Wonders of the World: The Panama Canal

Water World: The Past, Present and Future of Undersea Tunnels

Making Waves in Ocean Conservation

Recycled Steel Changing the Way the World Uses Metal

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The History of Glienicke Bridge

The first bridge built across the Havel River was wooden, it was constructed in 1660, but by the early 1800s, a new bridge was needed to accommodate the massive increase in traffic between Berlin and Potsdam.

The architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel designed a brick and wood bascule bridge, which was finished in 1834. In the year 1900, tens of thousands of vehicles crossed the cumbersome movable wooden bridge. The narrow structure was not capable of handling such an increase and it caused heavy traffic.

Something more durable was needed and so in 1904, the Prussian government held a design competition to replace the wooden bridge. The Prussian government looked to steel for a strong, reliable material.

The Johann Caspar Harkort Company of Duisburg submitted the winning design, a modern, iron bridge with the outer appearance of a suspension bridge. The new steel bridge was officially opened in November 1907. This bridge is still standing today and has many stories of division and unification to tell.

Bridge of Unity

In April 1945, during the Second World War, an unexploded shell detonated near the Glienicke Bridge, leaving it badly damaged. After the War, a makeshift wooden bridge was built parallel to the damaged steel structure in order to restore the important road link between Berlin and Potsdam.

The reconstruction of the steel bridge was completed in 1949, after the division of Germany. The East German government called it the Bridge of Unity because it straddled the border between East and West Germany and, right in the middle of the bridge, a white border line was drawn. The thin white line of paint is still visible today.

In May 1952, East German authorities officially closed the bridge to citizens of West Berlin and West Germany. In August 1961, after the construction of the Berlin Wall, the bridge was also closed to East German citizens. From that moment on, only allied personnel were allowed to access the bridge, crossing it became next to impossible.

Around the same time, the bridge lost its name Bridge of Unity and instead became the Glienicke Bridge named after the nearby Palace of the same name.

Bridge of Spies

During the Cold War, Americans and Soviets used the Glienicke Bridge as a meeting spot for the exchange of captured spies. The bridge gained the nickname the Bridge of Spies.

The first exchange took place in February 1962. The Soviet spy, Colonel Rudolf Abel, was exchanged for U.S. spy-plane pilot, Francis Gary Powers, who was shot down in his U2 spy plane while crossing over the USSR in 1960.

A total of 40 prisoners were exchanged between Western and Eastern powers on the Glienicke Bridge. It’s no surprise then that the bridge has frequently appeared as a venue for prisoner exchange. Today, Glienicke Bridge is a popular backdrop for television commercials and movies.

One of the most successful movies to use the Glienicke Bridge as a shooting location was the 2015 film “Bridge of Spies.” The blockbuster directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Hanks features a prisoner exchange on the famous steel bridge as a major plot element. It has been nominated for Best Movie at the 2016 Oscar Academy Awards, due to kick off on Sunday, February 28 in Hollywood, U.S.A. The simple elegance and pleasing symmetry of this historic steel bridge, as shown in “Bridge of Spies,” captures the viewer and brings them back to Cold War Germany. For this reason, many steel lovers are hoping it can win the top prize.

A Steel Structure to Remember

But the most iconic memory of this bridge is its reopening to the public. At 6 p.m. on November 10, 1989, one day after the opening of the Berlin Wall, the Glienicke Bridge was reopened to pedestrians. The border fortifications and barricades were later dismantled following the unification of Germany on October 3, 1990. Since then Glienicke Bridge has reunited loved ones and become a focal point of unification. To this day, the strong steel structure it’s remembered as bridge like no other.

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The tradition began when a Parsi banker wanted to have home cooked food regularly delivered to his office and gave the responsibility to the first ever dabbawala. It soon caught on among others and the demand for the meals-on-wheels service soared. 

Steel, the Preferred Metal for Your Meal

While the wala, or carrier, is no doubt the driving force behind the system, the dabba, or lunchbox, is a central component of India’s meal delivery culture. Widely used throughout the subcontinent, these multi-tiered “tiffin” (Indian English for a light midday meal) carriers are generally made from stainless steel and can keep food warm for up to three hours.

In addition to the tiffin boxes’ warming properties, the fact that they are made of steel means they offer plenty of other benefits, too. For one, they don’t leach toxins like plastic, ensuring food is safer, and they’re also more hygienic and easier to clean than those made of other materials—a big plus when it comes to rinsing off curry, vegetable and dal residue. Furthermore, the containers are durable and sustainable, meaning they don’t damage easily and can virtually last a lifetime.

Similar types of lunchboxes are also commonly used in other parts of the world, such as Southwest Asia and Northeast Africa, as well as parts of South America and Europe. Like India, the boxes in these containers hold much more than just food. They often contain mementos—a flower, a movie ticket, an apology note—and more importantly, love from the cooks, who are usually hardworking housewives. But the journey these steel boxes must undergo is a lengthy one—one that takes a dabbawala an entire day to complete. 

A Day in the Life of the Dabbawala

By 9 o’clock every morning, the dabbawala has hit the streets, pedaling his bicycle—one designed with extra iron to withstand a heavier load—through the congested Mumbai traffic to his assigned area. As many older buildings are not equipped with elevators, the dabba climbs up and down the towering residences to collect the tiffin boxes from homes.

By the time he completes the collection, it’s already about 10:30am. He now carries the 30-40 lunchboxes he has accumulated on his bike, undeterred by the poor road conditions, mud, traffic and merciless Mumbai monsoons that plague the region every summer.

He then reaches the nearest railway station where fellow dabbawalas gather and sort the tiffins by destination utilizing a simple but seemingly flawless coding system. By now, most of his tiffins are handed over to other teams dispersing to various parts of the city. He joins one of them, and with his teammates, transfers different tiffin boxes in crates and hastily transports them to the railway platforms on his head.

If a tiffin is on a complex route, it is further sorted on the railway platform where even more dabbawala teams work together to move the wooden crates into the trains. With the boxes put away in the luggage compartments, the men can take a short break before arriving at their assigned stations around noon.

Racing against the clock, the wala rushes out of the station with the lunchboxes atop his head and once again disperses them among other teams. Joining yet a different group, he and the men place the boxes in trollies and dash toward the business centers, the final destinations for the tiffin boxes.

As they do, pedestrians make way for the shouting, pushing dabbawalas, knowing well that they don’t stop for anyone. Each man then takes the responsibility of delivering the lunches to separate buildings, moving up and down the elevators. By 1pm, all are delivered, but the dabbawala’s job is not over yet. After a brief lunch, the dabbawala takes the empty tiffin boxes from the offices and repeats the process until all of the dabbas are returned to their respected homes before 6pm.

The century-old Indian meal delivery system that is powered by teamwork and steel remains incredibly efficient, even in an age where just about everything else is operated using the latest technology. Time will only tell how the process may evolve in the future (registration has recently gone virtual), but it is certain it will continue to serve as a model of service excellence for the entire world.

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POSCO is embracing the move towards smart technology through its Smart Factory at Gwangjang Steelworks. The factory connects all operations, equipment and machinery through intelligent data sharing to maximize performance and minimize errors.

Here are some examples of smart city technologies and programs that are already being implemented around the world.

Amsterdam

The Amsterdam Smart City initiative, which began in 2009, currently includes 79 projects collaboratively developed by local residents, governments and businesses. These projects are interconnected through wireless devices. Dubbed the “City,” it works to reduce traffic, save energy and improve public safety.

The City has also provided a number of homes with smart energy meters, with incentives for those that actively reduce energy consumption. Other initiatives include flexible street lighting which allows municipalities to control the brightness of street lights, and smart traffic management, which monitors traffic in real time. The traffic flow is then broadcast to allow motorists to determine the best routes to take.

A view of the Reguliersgracht on the corner with the Keizersgracht, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands at dusk. 

Barcelona

Barcelona implemented sensor technology in the irrigation system in Parc del Centre de Poblenou, which monitors irrigation patterns for gardening crews in real time. Barcelona has also designed a new bus network based on data analysis of the most commonly used traffic routes in Barcelona. Barcelona uses smart traffic lights as buses run to optimize the number of green lights. Emergency vehicle routes are also entered into the traffic light system, setting all the lights to green as the vehicles moves towards their destinations without delay.

Stockholm

Stockholm’s smart city technology uses a universal fiber optic network. Stockholm has created a Green IT strategy. The Green IT program seeks to reduce the environmental impact of Stockholm through energy-efficient buildings, traffic monitoring and e-services to minimize paper usage. The Kista Science City region intertwines university, industry and government to develop ICT applications.

Santa Cruz

An alternative use of smart city technology can be found in Santa Cruz, California. Local authorities use surveillance data to analyze historical crime records to predict where police presence may be required. The analytical tools generate a list of ten areas each day where property crimes have occurred historically, sending police to these regions when officers are not responding to emergencies.

How POSCO is Advancing Smart Cities

POSCO commenced construction of an ICT-enabled Smart Factory, starting with the thick plate factory at Gwangyang Steelworks.

The Smart Factory is an example of the future of manufacturing factories. POSCO hopes to build a world-class smart manufacturing site by finding innovative best practices based on the data generated from its Smart Factory project at Gwangyang Steelworks. This will allow POSCO to develop a standard model which can be applied to manufacturing processes and scaled to fit similar processes in the future.

Technology companies are partnering with construction companies to build the infrastructure required to makes smart cities a reality.

Since the publication of Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea in 1869 up until the dawn of today’s sci-fi thrillers such as Stargate Atlantis, the concept of underwater exploration and civilization has captured the imagination of the public. Now, facing problems like overpopulation, rising sea levels and increasing natural disasters, humanity is seeking alternative living environments, and with ever-progressing technology, life under the sea no longer seems all that unrealistic.

In fact, some small underwater habitats already exist, and we have the technology to create and maintain larger ones that could easily support human sustenance. Might it be possible that one day there will be an entire network of undersea cities, brimming with futuristic technology and advanced ways of living? And if it is, how would these sub-aquatic societies be connected? 

Undersea Tunnels, a Brief History

Undersea tunnels, the most likely method of transportation in a world submerged by water, are not a new concept. In fact, the earliest example of such engineering endeavors dates back to around 2100 BCE, when the Babylonians used a tunnel to divert the Euphrates River. It wasn’t until the 19^th century that the world saw a succession of more challenging tunnel projects, made possible by vast improvements in surveying and ventilation techniques.

The first notion of the Channel Tunnel, which connects England and France, was proposed to Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802 by a French engineer named Mathieu-Favier, but it wasn’t until the 1960s that it became a reality. Instead, London’s Thames Tunnel became the first modern undersea tunnel in 1843, taking almost 20 years to complete. The tunnel was originally designed for, but never used by, horse-drawn carriages.

Noting the comparable advantages undersea tunnels have over bridges, such as their ability to divert traffic and not be affected by external factors such as wind or rain, city planners began incorporating them into city layouts in the late 1800s. But, at the time, the methods used to construct these tunnels consisted mainly of excavating in painstakingly small increments, and were incredibly time consuming.

The game changed in 1903 with a construction project beneath the Detroit River in America when engineers used a method that involved anchoring premade sections of steel tube into a pre-dug trench on the river floor. Then, in 1971, a new era of underwater tunneling began with the construction of the Seikan Railroad Tunnel, which currently stretches 53.85 kilometers beneath the Tsugaru Strait in Japan. Instead of using the antiquated tunneling techniques of the past, tunnel builders began to utilize giant tunnel boring machines to make the process go faster. Since then, tunneling projects that could once only be conceptualized have become a reality.

The Eurasia Tunnel Project, for example, is a 14.6 kilometer-long road tunnel that will link Europe and Asia via the Bosporus Strait, and is currently in the last stages of construction. It is a project that has long been discussed and aims to reduce traffic in Istanbul, the second-worst European city in terms of traffic congestion.

Tunneling to the Future

Of course transportation tunnels like these would be vital in aquatic lands, but a sustainable undersea city would also need gas, oil, electricity and, most importantly, oxygen. Yet, some of these types of undersea tunnels exist, and are constantly being positioned across the waters of the world.

In the most recent tunnel developments, POSCO, in coordination with GS Caltex and Jeonnam Development Coorporation, has made plans to construct a 3.98 kilometer-long undersea tunnel connecting Gwangyang Port and Yeosu Industrial Complex by the first half of 2019.

POSCO Green Gas Technology will use the undersea pipe network to supply syngas produced at the Gwangyang SNG Plant to GS Caltex, which will then use the syngas for petroleum refining and enhancing processes. Furthermore, the undersea tunnel will minimize risks associated with transport and establish an efficient undersea logistics infrastructure by reducing production and logistical costs.

POSCO’s gas pipeline tunnel is indicative of what is to come. Perhaps the undersea tunnels of the future will allow for the transportation of fresh drinking water, alternative energy resources or even food sources from faraway lands. But with real-life projects concerning tunnels between Morocco and Spain, Japan and South Korea and the mainland of Canada and Prince Edward Island on the table, it is clear that such possibilities are not only realistic, but also limitless.

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Until recently, POSCO-IDPC, a steel processing center in the Bawal Industrial Area near Delhi, India, experienced such setbacks, but thanks to their development of new transportation methods, they have been able to resolve many of these issues.

Taking care of business

Established in 2007, POSCO-IDPC supplies steel products of POSCO Headquarters, POSCO-Maharashtra and POSCO-ESI to its major customers in Northern India, including carmakers Maruti Suzuki and Honda Cars India.

Originally, the company imported steel coils from POSCO Headquarters through Kandla, a state-managed port, as it imposes the lowest customs fees and transport charges on imports. However, there were often a number of problems with the coils due to careless handling, as well as rust damages caused by chemical products or fertilizers which were placed near the coil yard. Additionally, demurrage charges, fees payable to the owner of a chartered ship on failure to load or discharge the ship within the time agreed, were common.

In an effort to solve these problems, POSCO-IDPC established an office in Kandla Port in 2012, staffed by employees capable of handling the existing issues. As a result of their efforts, the company was able to reduce the losses caused by coil damages and rust, which had amounted to $20,000 annually.

However, there were still roadblocks ahead.

A bump in the road

According to India Today, a report commissioned by the Transport Corporation of India Ltd (TCI) stated that the trucking sector contributes 4.5 to five percent to India’s GDP and is an integral component of the transportation sector. However, poor infrastructure has led to numerous traffic jams on highways, delays at toll plazas and accidents, costing the Indian economy nearly $600 million in lost truck-operating hours annually.

Transporting from Kandla Port, located a lengthy 1,200 kilometers from POSCO-IDPC, by truck gave rise to a number of such problems, resulting in delays and increased carrying charges. During the rainy season, problems escalated as roads worsened and coils kept in the port were damaged by flooding waters.

Smooth sailing at Mundra Port

To avoid these setbacks, POSCO-IDPC searched for another port where railway transportation was possible. Mundra, a privately owned port located 75 kilometers from Kandla, had a complete system in place, managing every aspect from storage to railway transportation. However, compared to Kandla Port, it was costlier, and coils were more likely to be damaged due to more frequent handling.

Through continuous negotiation with Mundra Port, POSCO-IDPC was able to settle on a reduced transportation cost, while securing superior transportation quality.

Nowadays, coils unloaded at Mundra Port are piled in the yard and loaded into containers specifically designed for handling steel coils. The containers are then transported to the station nearest to the POSCO-IDPC plant by railway and then delivered to the customer by truck.

Steering clear of damages

Furthermore, the company enhanced the transportation method so that clients could receive the product in its original state. To avoid accidents and product damages due to poor road conditions, POSCO-IDPC altered its packing techniques by connecting pallets of loaded products and tying multiple bundles of coils together.

In doing so, the quality of coil transportation was remarkably improved resulting in almost zero claims, and the company was also able to reduce actual expenses on transportation and insurance. After 7 months of operation from June 2014, POSCO-IDPC saved $290,000, excluding insurance merits. If POSCO-IDPC imports 80,000 tons this year, it will save a total of $600,000.

With an annual steel processing capacity of 200,000 tons since the establishment of its second plant in April 2013, POSCO-IDPC expects an increased growth through consistent sales increases, and hopes to expand its annual sales to 220,000 tons in 2015. On top of that, POSCO-IDPC will continuously endeavor to achieve maximum customer satisfaction with the best transportation quality as an admired coil center of one of the world’s leading steelmakers.