Massive subsidence resulting from water seepage at a Kaohsiung rapid transit construction site snarled up traffic yesterday.
The sinkage occured at the intersection of Chungcheng Road and Tashun Road in Kaohsiung City. The subsidence resulted from the construction of a reservoir well in the area, which suddenly experienced massive water seepage on Sunday night.
The area of the subsidence increased through the morning yesterday, and it took staff from the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC) 11 hours to contain the situation.
PHOTO: HUANG CHI-YUAN, TAIPEI TIMES
Yesterday morning, 200 KRTC staff were on the scene of the collapse, and as of yesterday evening an estimated 2,800m3 of earth and concrete had been poured to shore up the damage. In addition, efforts were made to strengthen the surrounding area to prevent an expansion of the problem.
As roads had to be closed during efforts to fill the 50m by 30m crater, which was approximately 10m deep, Kaohsiung's morning rush hour traffic was severely disrupted.
To make matters worse, service on the nearby Linkang railway line was suspended for safety reasons.
According to KRTC general manager Fan Chen-po (
He said that it did not seem to be the result of human error, and that reconstruction efforts could cost up to NT$500 million (US$15 million).
Fan said that the necessary assessments had been made and that the reservoir was protected by metal boards, but these had been unable to withstand the pressure of the water which flooded the worksite.
Yesterday's accident was the latest for the Kaohsiung MRT project, following a series of construction mishaps that bedeviled the project.
Last November, a Thai worker was killed and another injured in an accident at a construction site for Kaohsiung's MRT project.
Last August, another mishap at the construction site for Shitzuwan Station on the MRT's Orange Line affected an area of 500m2 and led to the evacuation of at least 24 residents from nearby homes.
Another accident also occurred last May after drilling, which resulted in a surge of water and sand rising to the surface.
As a result, the Yancheng MRT station and surrounding structures sank 20cm, leading to the evacuation of more than 100 people from buildings nearby.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)