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.
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People can take the Taipei MRT free of charge if they access it at Nanjing Sanmin Station or Taipei Arena Station on the Green Line between 12am and 6am on Jan. 1, the Taipei Department of Transportation said on Friday, outlining its plans to ease crowding during New Year’s events in the capital. More than 200,000 people are expected to attend New Year’s Eve events in Taipei, with singer A-mei (張惠妹) performing at the Taipei Dome and the city government’s New Year’s Eve party at Taipei City Hall Plaza, the department said. As people have tended to use the MRT’s Blue or
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Taiwanese professional baseball should update sports stadiums and boost engagement to enhance fans’ experience, Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview on Friday. The league has urged Farglory Group and the Taipei City Government to improve the Taipei Dome’s outdated equipment, including relatively rudimentary television and sound systems, and poor technology, he said. The Tokyo Dome has markedly better television and sound systems, despite being 30 years old, because its managers continually upgraded its equipment, Tsai said. In contrast, the Taipei Dome lacked even a room for referees
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