Asked about the safety of installing artificial turf on concrete for the Taipei Dome’s baseball field, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) yesterday said that the material and installation methods meet international standards.
Chiang had promised that his administration would complete the long-stalled Taipei Dome construction project within a year of him becoming mayor.
New Taipei City Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) on Sunday posted six photographs on Facebook of workers placing artificial turf on the venue’s baseball field.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
On March 24, Lee also posted photos on Facebook of a hot smoke test for smoke control systems on the baseball field, which he said went smoothly.
The smoke accumulated according to plan, and the fire sprinkler system was in good condition, so the goal of playing ball in the Taipei Dome by the end of the year is getting closer, he wrote.
However, the photos of the artificial turf led to many concerns, with people leaving comments that said the artificial turf did not seem thick enough, and installing it on hard concrete might be unsafe for baseball players.
Chiang was asked by reporters about the turf at an inspection of the Taipei Mass Rapid Transit System’s Hsinyi Line (信義線) east-extension construction site.
Professional Japanese technicians had been invited to instruct workers and supervise the installation of the artificial turf, he said.
The quality and installation methods follow international standards, Chiang said.
The turf installation method at the Taipei Dome is the same as was used at Japan’s Vantelin Dome Nagoya and Kyocera Dome Osaka, and Japanese technicians are overseeing the installation, Lee wrote on Facebook on Sunday.
The artificial turf would be installed directly on the concrete floor, and fine sand and granulated crumb rubber would be used as infill, he wrote.
The material has been used for many years, and its durability, stability, shock absorption, bounce and other qualities meet the requirements of international baseball games, he wrote.
The Taipei Dome construction project began in 2012, but it was suspended in 2015 by the city government, which cited public safety issues. Construction resumed in 2020.
The city government hopes to complete construction by the end of this month, Lee said.
The government would apply for user licensing next month, and hopefully obtain the license by July, to open the venue to the public by the end of the year, Lee said.
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
The Ministry of Culture yesterday officially launched the “We TAIWAN” cultural program on Osaka’s Nakanoshima sandbank, with the program’s mascot receiving overwhelming popularity. The cultural program, which runs from Aug. 2 to 20, was designed to partner with and capitalize on the 2025 World Expo that is being held in Osaka, Japan, from April 13 to Oct. 13, the ministry said. On the first day of the cultural program, its mascot, a green creature named “a-We,” proved to be extremely popular, as its merch was immediately in high demand. Long lines formed yesterday for the opening
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on
BE CAREFUL: The virus rarely causes severe illness or death, but newborns, older people and those with medical conditions are at risk of more severe illness As more than 7,000 cases of chikungunya fever have been reported in China’s Guangdong Province this year, including 2,892 new cases last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it is monitoring the situation and considering raising the travel notice level, which might be announced today. The CDC issued a level 1 travel notice, or “watch,” for Guangdong Province on July 22, citing an outbreak in Foshan, a manufacturing hub in the south of the province, that was reported early last month. Between July 27 and Saturday, the province reported 2,892 new cases of chikungunya, reaching a total of 7,716
RSS