Controversy has dogged the Taipei Financial Center ever since construction on the project began in 1999.
Concerns over the center's originally planned height of 508m put it under the national spotlight. Critics were concerned planes might crash into the building, even before the Sept. 11 attacks on the US.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
The building's location near a fault line has also been a concern. Sunday's quake once again put the center back in the headlines.
Sunday's quake, which measured 6.8 on the Richter scale at its epicenter outside Haulien and 5 in Taipei, shook loose two cranes perched atop the 56th floor of the building. The cranes fell to the earth, killing five construction workers and injuring 20 others.
"Accompanied by Australian engineers [who arrived in Taiwan yesterday], the company is now inspecting the building to further understand the whole situation," Lin Chun-ju (林純如), spokeswoman for the Taipei Financial Center Corp, told the Taipei Times yesterday.
Taipei Financial Center Corp is the owner of the Taipei Financial Center project.
Prior to Sunday's disaster, concerns over fault lines, ground liquefaction and aviation safety have haunted the Taipei Financial Center project.
According to DPP Taipei City Councilor Yeh Hsin-yi (葉信義), the building is being built on an area that is subject to ground liquefaction that is also near a fault line.
"Based on these facts, I personally don't think the area is an appropriate site for a high-rise building," Yeh said.
The Taipei Financial Center -- which, it is hoped, will be the world's tallest building when completed -- is Taipei's first build-operate-transfer project as well the country's largest-ever architectural project.
The height of the building was originally planned to be much higher, but was lowered to 391.8m due to aviation safety concerns from the Civil Aeronautics Administration.
But the builders were later allowed to extend the building to its original height of 508m, after the administration loosened its aviation limitations earlier last month.
In addition to concerns over location and aviation issues, the building's construction plans have also been adjusted numerous times by the Taipei City Government's Bureau of Public Works after violations of construction safety measures.
"Of the 55 inspections we have conducted so far since construction started in 1999," said Shiao Shu-yen (
Originally scheduled to be completed by late next year, the completion date is now expected to be delayed as construction is being held up by the city government in the aftermath of Sunday's quake -- until safety inspections can be completed.
According to information from the Taipei Financial Center Corp, the building's gross floor area is 412,500m2, with 101 floors above ground and five floors underground.
Aside from shopping malls, restaurants and bars, the building will also feature an observation deck on the 89th floor and an outdoor one on the 91st floor.
Lin said the center will also be equipped with 61 elevators, including two that travel 1000m per minute, making it possible to reach the top floor in a mere 39 seconds.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
EVERYONE’S ISSUE: Kim said that during a visit to Taiwan, she asked what would happen if China attacked, and was told that the global economy would shut down Taiwan is critical to the global economy, and its defense is a “here and now” issue, US Representative Young Kim said during a roundtable talk on Taiwan-US relations on Friday. Kim, who serves on the US House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee, held a roundtable talk titled “Global Ties, Local Impact: Why Taiwan Matters for California,” at Santiago Canyon College in Orange County, California. “Despite its small size and long distance from us, Taiwan’s cultural and economic importance is felt across our communities,” Kim said during her opening remarks. Stanford University researcher and lecturer Lanhee Chen (陳仁宜), lawyer Lin Ching-chi
A pro-Russia hacker group has launched a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on the Taiwanese government in retaliation for President William Lai’s (賴清德) comments suggesting that China should have a territorial dispute with Russia, an information security company said today. The hacker group, NoName057, recently launched an HTTPs flood attack called “DDoSia” targeting Taiwanese government and financial units, Radware told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). Local tax bureaus in New Taipei City, Keelung, Hsinchu and Taoyuan were mentioned by the hackers. Only the Hsinchu Local Tax Bureau site appeared to be down earlier in the day, but was back
RSS