Taipei City Geotechnical Engineering Office

 Today the Taipei City Government Public Works Excellence Award Ceremony, the highest honor for the public works of Taipei City Government, was held in International Conference Hall, CPC Building. Six of the construction projects performed by the Geotechnical Engineering Office, Public Works Department were recognized by the evaluation committee, covering hydraulic engineering, civil engineering and architectural engineering. Lee Shu-Chuan, Deputy Mayor of Taipei, honored the award to the Geotechnical Engineering Office and its construction team, and praised them in public to acknowledge the Geotechnical Engineering Office for continuously enhancing the hillside environment and construction quality.

 The first awarded construction project is the “Hydraulic Engineering - Construction of Shuangxi Wetland Park and Bus Parking Area.” Water flows from the pond in front of Shilin Pumping Station through hydraulic units such as sedimentation tank, thick planting area and ecological pool. Sedimentation of micro topography and adsorption transform sewage into clear water. This is a field for environmental education on water purification. Over 260 trees suitable for this area have been planted here. Shuangxi Riverside Bikeway, Taipei Astronomical Museum and National Taiwan Science Education Center are connected to provide a new recreational area for citizens to enjoy the wetland ecosystem and science education.

 The second awarded construction project is the “Hydraulic Engineering - Improvement and Facility Maintenance Project of Canals on the Hillside in Taipei in 2022.” Ziming Creek is adjacent to Zhongxing Road in Beitou District. The overall environment construction was put into consideration during planning and design of construction. Canal rectification is the main goal. A permeable pavement integrating the valley has been set up to connect popular scenic spots, Yangming Academy Housem, Ziming Creek and Zhuzihu. These spots form a green corridor combining hot springs, green maple trees and streams, becoming a scenic spot on the outskirts of Taipei for recreation and enjoying the maple leaves.

 The third awarded construction project is the “Civil Engineering - Improvement and Facility Maintenance Project of Slopes on the Hillside in Taipei in 2022.” Earth anchor lifecycle, anchor remediation, new anchor, and diverse monitoring techniques have been introduced to the project based on government-industry-university-institute collaboration. These four innovative aspects protect the anchor at the downslope where the MaoKong Gondola T16 Tower is located. There are lots of tourists walking on the upslope to Xiangshan Hiking Trail at Taipei City Hospital Heping Songde Branch. The rockfall protection net, anchor head protection facilities, reinforced drainage system and erosion control mat have been established to adapt to the site, creating a safe, healthy slope land environment ensuring sustainable development.

 The fourth awarded construction project is the “Civil Engineering - renovation of forest recreation area (Zhinan Scenic Area) in 2022.” The existing unused space was revitalized by sorting out the environmental and humanistic context. Pink cherry blossoms bloom along the blessing trail to compose the Series of Seven Blessing Songs. The blessing trail is one of the light display zones of the 2023 Taiwan Lantern Festival, an exhibition area of 2022 Taipei Public Arts Festival, and a remote performance space for international arts groups. The idea of improvement by creating great benefits through a small construction project successfully makes Zhinan Scenic Area a more popular spot. Based on the idea of circular economy, local materials are reused. With these materials, delicate workmanship and natural aesthetics, the project manager of construction manufacturer has been honored with the Distinguished Master Award.

 The fifth awarded construction project is the “Building - Construction of the Administration Room of Bishan Campground in 2020.” An arc-shaped administration room and a flood detention and sediment retention basin via Low Impact Development (LID) Method have been built. They blend into the local natural environment, follow the idea of forest sustainability and soil and water conservation, and enhance the overall recreational ambience of the campground. The forest camp area and S-shaped sky corridor havce been completed in recent years. These two facilities and the administration room present a new landscape and vision and deliver a natural forest ecological experience to campers.

 The sixth awarded construction project is the “Building - construction of wall burial area in the military cemetery (the third to sixth row in Xiao Section) in 2021.” The construction site is located in Nangang Military Cemetery. To adapt to cemetery needs of a thousand people every year, this cemetery offers a good worship environment and service area. The cemetery is built with the quality of a house. A neat, unified wall burial area has been built on the current land, which has been revitalized. Pavement connects all areas, creating a friendly passage space. Greenification of cemetery and the wall burial area strengthen inclusion of landscape and nature, change the stern, depressive ambience of the cemetery, and achieve the goal of creating a recreational cemetery park.

 The Geotechnical Engineering Office keeps promoting hillside environmental adaptation based on core values, e.g. safety and disaster prevention, sustainable ecosystem and value-added environment, integrating diverse aspects and breakthroughs. In the construction projects winning the award, the slope is more stable, canal governance has been performed, the scenic spot has been revitalized, the campground has been optimized, the wetland park has been built, and the military cemetery has been utilized. The Geotechnical Engineering Office will continue to strive for hillside safety, enhancement of construction quality, ecological environment conservation, sustainable development, and a safe, comfortable, diverse recreational area for citizens.

 Note: If you need to refer to photos, please search for and download them from the website of "Geotechnical Engineering Office, Public Works Department, Taipei City Government" (http://www.geo.gov.taipei/).