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Contractor used wooden manhole covers, city says

“Roads with wooden manhole covers are like soft sandwiches. Who will be held responsible if cars or pedestrians fall into the manholes?”

— Wang Chih-ping, Taipei City councilor

A contractor cutting corners used wooden boards for manhole covers in some parts of Taipei’s Tianmu (天母) neighborhood, the city government said yesterday.

The Taipei City Government promised a thorough inspection of the sewage system contractor’s work to ensure public safety.

The contractor, who was responsible for work on the public sewage system in Shilin District, covered manholes with wooden boards and a layer of tar, replacing the existing metal manhole covers, Taipei City Councilor Wang Chih-ping (汪志冰) said.

The wooden manhole covers posed a danger to the public, as vehicles or pedestrians could easily fall in, Wang said.

Wang said she had received complaints from residents in the Tianfu Borough of Shilin about the contractor’s sloppy work, which had already caused cave-ins after the recent heavy rains.

“Roads with wooden manhole covers are like soft sandwiches. Who will be held responsible if cars or pedestrians fall into the manholes?” Wang said during an inspection tour of the area yesterday.

She said there were about seven or eight wooden manhole covers in the area and that there could be more around the city.

Although the city is replacing the wooden manhole covers with metal ones wherever they are found, how many need to be replaced is still unknown.

Wu Chun-hsian (吳俊賢), a division chief of Taipei City’s Public Works Department, acknowledged that the contractor had cut corners and promised to check all sewage system construction sites around the city.

Wu said that the department would fine the contractor NT$40,000 and replace the city’s director of construction.

Wang urged the department to refrain from working with the contractor again to prevent similar incidents.
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