Taipei city councilors, during a meeting of the city council’s transportation committee yesterday, accused the Taipei Department of Mass Rapid Transit Systems (DORTS) of misleading the public by using different names for the danger values and for allegedly being in the dark on some numbers that were critical for the building’s success.
The meeting was held due to recent reports that the construction of Taipei Dome was negatively affecting the Bannan MRT Line, reportedly causing cracks in the tunnels near Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall MRT Station.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) City Councilor Lee Ching-yuan (李慶元) said DORTS has repeatedly used the word “action value” (行動值) in its reports, when it was actually referring to the “danger value” (危險值) of the building.
Photo copied by Kuo Yi, Taipei Times
Such misuse of terminology is misleading to the public, Lee said, adding that it was also odd that the department was unaware of missing figures for underground water pressure and cracks in the walls of the MRT tunnels.
DORTS Director Chou Li-liang (周禮良) yesterday said that by law, the reports should have used “danger value” to better reflect monitored statistics, adding that the use of “action value” resulted simply out of habit because that term is more prevalent in engineering.
When asked why the department was continuing its efforts to ask Farglory Land Development Co (遠雄建設) to improve on the structure’s lower levels when Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) had suggested tearing down the facility, Chou said that the city government had not consulted him on the issue.
Chou said he had merely told the city government that the construction efforts on the Dome would affect the MRT system and the city government should establish a task force to monitor the situation.
While the “action value” of the monitoring location on the crossings of Yixian Road and Zhongxiao E Road was not the closest to the Dome construction zone, it was the location with the highest ratings, KMT City Councilor Tai Shi-chin (戴錫欽) said.
Such findings mean that construction zones closer to Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall MRT Station and its No. 5 exit on Zhongxiao E Road would yield higher ratings, but DORTS does not have information from that area, Tai said.
KMT City Councilor Chen Li-hui (陳孋輝) said that it was surprising how the department was reliant on secondhand information recorded by monitoring devices installed by Farglory, instead of the department itself.
Chou said that the tunnels near Yixian Road and Zhongxiao E Road exhibited larger cracks due to the soil being softer in the area, adding that there was no major horizontal displacement and no risk of fatalities.
DORTS has been monitoring information provided by Farglory, but upon discovery of a worsening situation in terms of action values, it has also sent out personnel to observe in person, Chou said, adding that the monitoring team would continue to make on-site inspections and would be asking Farglory to increase the frequency of monitoring reports from once a month to once every two weeks.
Meanwhile, the director of the city government’s east area construction zone, Chen Yao-wei (陳耀維), said that there were displacements in the station and its tunnels, especially around the Yixian Road and Zhongxiao E Road intersection, where it was displaced by 9.7cm.
However, Chen Yao-wei said that while the figures showed abnormalities, it was not critically dangerous, adding that parts of the station’s rail lines are also slanted by 0.5cm, but that such issues could easily be fixed.
Farglory said when asked for comments that it hopes to expedite the construction as much as possible because delayed construction time might cause changes to the soil, but said that the situation was currently stable because the foundations had taken such matters into account and reinforcements had been made.
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old