Taipei Times
Date: Apr 22, 2015
By: Abraham Gerber / Staff reporter
The Taipei Dome could collapse if construction were immediately halted, which could affect the
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je yesterday said that if work on the Dome is stopped without careful planning, operations of the nearby Taipei Mass Rapid Transport (MRT) Bannan Line could be affected. Photo: CNA
operation of the Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) System’s Bannan Line, or Line 5, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said yesterday.
“As long as the base structure of the [Dome’s] site is unfinished, there is a risk of it collapsing,” Ko said.
Ko acknowledged concerns that the Dome’s construction might have caused damage to a historical site — the former Songshan Tobacco Factory — but said that its potential effect on the MRT line, which runs out to Taipei’s Nangang District (南港), if construction is stopped is “even more worrisome.”
Ko made the comments as questions were raised over the city’s response to the latest revelations of damage to the tobacco factory site.
He said the damage was discovered after an earthquake on Monday.
Taipei Department of Rapid Transportation Systems Commissioner Chou Li-liang (周禮良) said that as the basement of the Dome is being constructed from the top down, the structure cannot be stabilized until the lowest level of the basement is completed. [FULL STORY]
