A group of local and foreign contractors yesterday urged the government to consider building “intelligent bridges” when reconstructing structures destroyed by Typhoon Morakot in southern Taiwan.
London-based Arup Group Ltd, which is known for its design of the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne and the “Bird’s Nest” in Beijing, said yesterday it was willing to share its architectural expertise and take part in the reconstruction of Shuangyuan Bridge (雙園大橋), which connects Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties, as a modern cable-stayed bridge pre-installed with a monitoring system.
HIGH-TECH
“Such a high-tech bridge, pre-installed with a global positioning system [GPS], will signal an alert to ensure the safety of bridge users,” Arup vice chairman Andrew Chan (陳嘉正) told a media briefing yesterday.
Based on data collected by the GPS and weather conditions, such as forecast rain and wind velocity, the bridge’s administrator can monitor and decide when to close the bridge, he said.
The monitoring system can also provide a health reading of the bridge during routine maintenance, he said.
Chan, however, yesterday said it was premature to estimate the cost of building such a bridge.
Tseng Ching-tsung (曾景琮), vice president of RSEA Engineering Corp (榮民工程公司), said the government should not hold separate bids for the design and construction of the bridge because it creates problems for contractors who may have to contend with an “infeasible design.”
SINGLE BID
Instead, the government should combine the two into a single bid open to design-and-construction teams to accelerate and ensure efficient construction, he said.
Chiu Fu-sheng (邱復生), chairman of Taiwan Land Development Corp (台開), which is a local partner of Arup, yesterday expressed interest in working as a coordinator for the bridge project.
However, he said it was too early to say whether all three companies would jointly bid for the project.
He also said the companies’ proposed bridge could be a model for the rebuilding of 70 bridges that collapsed in the wake of the typhoon.
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday received government approval to deploy its advanced 3-nanometer (3nm) process at its second fab currently under construction in Japan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a news release. The ministry green-lit the plan for the facility in Kumamoto, which is scheduled to start installing equipment and come online in 2028 with a monthly production capacity of 15,000 12-inch wafers, the ministry said. The Department of Investment Review in June 2024 authorized a US$5.26 billion investment for the facility, slated to manufacture 6- to 12nm chips, significantly less advanced than 3nm process. At a meeting with
Taiwan’s food delivery market could undergo a major shift if Singapore-based Grab Holdings Ltd completes its planned acquisition of Delivery Hero SE’s Foodpanda business in Taiwan, industry experts said. Grab on Monday last week announced it would acquire Foodpanda’s Taiwan operations for US$600 million. The deal is expected to be finalized in the second half of this year, with Grab aiming to complete user migration to its platform by the first half of next year. A duopoly between Uber Eats and Foodpanda dominates Taiwan’s delivery market, a structure that has remained intact since the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) blocked Uber Technologies Inc’s
RSS