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.
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