The Leap (도약의상) - West Coast Expressway (서해안고속도로 ) - Gochang, Korea
Posted by: 
silverquill
N 35° 28.045 E 126° 40.401
52S E 288884 N 3927368
This simple sculpture is mounted on top of an 80-foot pillar-base at the Gochang-Goindol Rest Area on the West Coast Expressway to commemorate its completion in 2001.
Waymark Code: WMECZ3
Location: Jeolla buk do, South Korea
Date Posted: 05/09/2012
Views: 2
도약의상
서해안고속도로 준긍기념
Fairly simple as sculptures go, this steel creation is perhaps three feet wide and eight feet tall, consisting of a rectangular slab, curved at both ends, forming a curled shape, perhaps suggesting a ski jump. It is painted a dull red and is mounted on top of twin beams that are estimated to be eighty feet. This gives the sculpture a high visibility whether one stops at the rest area or is whizzing by on the expressway.
The title of the sculpture, "The Leap" (도약의상) communicates the tremendous accomplishment of this project, the West Coast Expressway (서해안고속도로) providing a second north-south express route for the peninsula, stretching from the capital city, Seoul, to the southern port city of Mokpo. It is also known as IC-15.
Some interesting facts about the construction of this Expressway that runs north and south roughly parallel to Korea's west coast:
Date of construction: 1990-2001
Length: 353km
Tunnels: 17
Rest Areas: 24