The government will earmark NT$7.96 billion (US$241 million) to rebuild 121 aging bridges and repair 1,000 others to ensure traffic safety, a Public Construction Commission official said yesterday.
The bridge repair program was passed last year, and is scheduled to be finished within three years, the official said.
Quoting statistics compiled by the commission, the official said there are 26,000 bridges across the nation -- at an average age of 20 years -- but that 952 are more than 40 years old.
The public became more concerned about the safety of the nation's bridges after a bridge over the Mississippi River in Minnesota collapsed on Aug. 1, killing at least four, with 30 missing.
The official said the government began collecting and integrating data and information about the bridges from the Directorate General of Highways, the Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau, the Taiwan Railway Administration and local governments in 2001. The material will be used to serve as reference for maintenance and repairs.
The official said the highway and water resource units will meet to coordinate their actions and ensure smooth progress on the repairs.
Authorities at all levels have been asked to carry out regular inspections and record inspection results to ensure better traffic safety.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
Fast food chain McDonald's is to raise prices by up to NT$5 on some products at its restaurants across Taiwan, starting on Wednesday next week, the company announced today. The prices of all extra value meals and sharing boxes are to increase by NT$5, while breakfast combos and creamy corn soup would go up by NT$3, the company said in a statement. The price of the main items of those meals, if ordered individually, would remain the same. Meanwhile, the price of a medium-sized lemon iced tea and hot cappuccino would rise by NT$3, extra dipping sauces for chicken nuggets would go up
Yangmingshan National Park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) nature area has gone viral after a park livestream camera observed a couple in the throes of intimate congress, which was broadcast live on YouTube, drawing large late-night crowds and sparking a backlash over noise, bright lights and disruption to wildlife habitat. The area’s livestream footage appeared to show a couple engaging in sexual activity on a picnic table in the park on Friday last week, with the uncensored footage streamed publicly online. The footage quickly spread across social media, prompting a tide of visitors to travel to the site to “check in” and recreate the
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not
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