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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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
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