Abstract
Expressways are often upgraded by widening the lanes and/or by reshaping the roads to be more linear for faster travel time. However, during the process of improving the route of the expressways, the areas where the old expressways used to be are often unused and abandoned. When these neglected sites are left alone, they often become dump sites causing pollution and impacting the surrounding environment. Therefore, it is important to restore the abandoned expressway sites to its full natural beauty. In this study, the abandoned expressway at the Soksa interchange in Pyungchang county, located in Kangwon province was studied for establishing the model of ecological restoration project. Considering the characteristics of the site, the target flora species was chosen to be Quercus species and the target fauna species as amphibians. After the target species were carefully chosen, each species' habitat requirements were studied in order to figure out the appropriate methods toward habitat restoration specifically for these species. In addition, to determine the most efficient method toward restoration of abandoned expressways, the study utilized the planting hole techniques, the crack techniques, and the colonization techniques. In terms of the spatial organization, public education program is incorporated at the main entrance area and the programs for experimenting, and developing vegetation and habitat restoration techniques are placed in the vicinity. In the master plan-to provide natural ecosystem at the site-ASCON (asphalt concrete) was removed first, then plans for restoration including species' habitat restoration were established. Furthermore, the project included plans for improving water quality polluted through non-point source considering the surrounding nearby road and farm lands. Finally, the study established a planning process that will experimentally apply to the abandoned expressway restoration method. In the future, there will be a continuous monitoring of the methods applied to verify if the restoration methods are effective. Also, new restoration techniques should be available according to a variety of abandoned expressways' characteristics.
