Mudslides and erosion around a support pillar of the Maokong Gondola system have had a negative impact on the system’s capability to withstand an earthquake, but the stability of the pillar would otherwise not be affected, a civil engineering expert said yesterday.
Days before the final evaluation report on the safety of the gondola is expected to be delivered, Shannon Lee (李咸亨), a spokesman for the civil engineering groups invited by the Taipei City Government to conduct the report, said erosion under the pillar — caused by mudslides during a typhoon in September — had reduced the system’s resistance to earthquakes by about 8 percent.
There is no immediate danger that the pillar would collapse, Lee said, while dismissing concerns by local residents that the mudslides were caused by the construction of the system.
PHOTO: FANG PIN-CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
“Judging from the quality of the soil and the overall geology in the area, the mudslides could have happened even if the gondola had not been built,” he said at Taipei City Hall.
The gondola system, completed last year but started under former Taipei mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), suspended operations last month after mudslides created by Typhoon Jangmi left a 2.5m gap beneath one of the support pillars.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) has refused to acknowledge that the gondola service was suspended over safety concerns and maintains that the move was made to appease public fears.
Lee declined to comment on the evaluation of the system.
Hau said the city government would respect the report, adding that the safety of residents and visitors was the city government’s only priority.
The report will be published on Sunday. Hau said the city government would announce its decision on how to proceed in about two weeks.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
RSS