The Taipei Construction Management Office and several technical associations yesterday held a joint inspection of the Taipei Dome construction site, following reports alleging that contractor Farglory Group has resumed construction work.
A local media outlet reported that it had been tipped off by a member of the public, who said that Farglory was installing an air-conditioning system at the site.
The Taipei City Government in May 2015 ordered that construction be halted because of unauthorized changes to approved blueprints.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
In 2016, the Taipei High Administrative Court ruled that Farglory could continue 14 safety-related remedial tasks, including flood prevention and drainage system work, fire prevention, rust prevention and other work to prevent the structure from collapsing.
The office said it discovered a tank-like object on the fifth basement floor on Monday, after it received a report that construction work had restarted.
It said that Farglory told the office that it is an ice storage tank that was custom-ordered in February 2015 — before the project was halted — and temporarily placed on the fifth basement floor in September that year.
The office asked the Taipei Professional Civil Engineers’ Association, the Taipei Architects’ Association, the Taipei Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Professional Engineers’ Association and the Taiwan Structural Engineers’ Association to join an on-site inspection yesterday afternoon to clarify the matter.
Based on their investigation, the group said the tank had been temporarily placed in an area that obstructed the drainage system, but it has been moved to its original designed position to prevent disasters.
The office said that moving the tank was necessary for construction of the drainage system, which is part of the 14 safety-related remedial tasks, so the contractor did not breach the law.
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