The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is planning a speedy review of 50 of the country’s most dangerous bridges to find the most suitable technology and construction methods for repairing them after Typhoon Morakot drastically changed the environment surrounding the bridges.
In some cases, rivers have widened from 20m to as much as 500m, Department of Railways and Highways director Chi Wen-jong (祁文中) said.
Chi said that since conventional construction methods do not prioritize fortifying bridges against the effects of torrential rains and flooding, the ministry was preparing enhanced construction standards to protect more vulnerable bridges.
The ministry is scheduled to report to the Council of Economic Planning and Development today on how it plans to restore transportation infrastructure damaged by the typhoon, an effort that is estimated will cost approximately NT$31 billion (US$943.5 million), he said.
Chi said Minister of Transportation and Communications Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) has asked the department to prioritize projects by dividing infrastructure in need of repair into three categories.
Type A refers to highways that can be rebuilt in their current location.
Type B includes highways that must be rebuilt along a new alignment, while Type C projects include roads that need minimal restoration to provide for the needs of small numbers of residents living along their route.
“For Type A projects, the minister instructed the department to identify some projects that will serve as models for reconstruction, such as Shuangyuan Bridge [雙園大橋] in Kaohsiung,” Chi said.
“The minister has urged the department to use more advanced methods to restore these facilities, and hopefully the time needed to complete the construction work can be shortened as well,” he added.
Taiwanese barista Xie Yi-chen (謝溢宸) recently triumphed at the 2024 World Coffee Championships, taking home 1st place in the World Latte Art category. Xie, 28, impressed the judges in the final round with patterns of a whale, a moose, and a dragon in the three-day competition that took place in Copenhagen, Denmark from June 27-29, clinching the title of latte art world champion during his first time representing Taiwan on the world stage. At a press conference held by the Taiwan Coffee Association on Thursday, Xie said that creating latte art gives him a tremendous feeling of achievement. Speaking about his entries in
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The annual Taipei Summer Festival, which starts today, is to tone down its fireworks displays, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said on Monday. Fireworks displays are to be held at the riverside site in Datong District’s (大同) Dadaocheng (大稻埕) area on four days at this year’s festival, with the first today, and then on Wednesday next week, July 31 and Aug. 10, the department said. There were eight displays last year, with the reduction aimed at minimizing inconvenience to local residents, it said. The first three shows, which are all on Wednesdays, are to last for five minutes, while the final