Taipei City Geotechnical Engineering Office

The Distinguished Public Construction Award, which symbolizes the highest honor for Taipei City Government’s public constructions, has entered its eighth year this year. The Geotechnical Engineering Office (GEO) has sent in a total of 4 constructions for the contest application, which have all received award recognitions. The 4 constructions are “Civil Engineering Category – Improvement Construction of Existing Roads in the Mountain Area at Lane 402 and 300 of Xingyi Road, Taipei City ”, “Civil Engineering Category– 2018 Hiking Trail Improvement and Maintenance Construction ”, “Architecture Category – 2018 Military Cemetery Cremains Burial Niche Facility and Barrier-Free Ramp Installation Construction (Second Row in Xiao Area) ”, and “Hydraulic Engineering Category – 2018 Taipei City Hillslope and Creeks Maintenance and Facility Improvement Construction (North Area) ”. Deputy Mayor Pong Chen-sheng presented the awards to the GEO and the construction execution team. Through public recognition, the city government acknowledged the GEO’s continuous and tireless dedicated efforts on hillslope environment and its construction quality.

The GEO noted that, “Improvement Construction of Existing Roads in the Mountain Area at Lane 402 and 300 of Xingyi Road, Taipei City” is located within Taipei City’s first hot spring industry exclusive district. To invigorate development of local industry while giving consideration to the ecological environment, four core values – revitalizing industry, sponge city, driving safety, and energy conservation and carbon reduction – are set forth as the principles of the construction. Through the improvement of an 8-meter-wide road and the imagery installation at the South and North entrances, the local driving safety and overall comfort are enhanced. Moreover, by integrating the imagery creation at the South and North entrances with the area’s surrounding landscape and leisure and recreation resources, the hot spring industry’s sustainable development is advanced and a regional characteristic is created. 

For the second awarded construction, the “2018 Hiking Trail Improvement and Maintenance Construction”, the GEO connects Taipei City’s existing trails with trails at Yangmingshan National Park to establish the Taipei Grand Trail route. The total length of the route, extending from north to south, is 92km, and the route is at an altitude of 1,120m. The construction process made use of the concept of “zero-addition” of cement pavement and “zero-disappearance” of natural pavement, integrating the natural surroundings and reducing the impact on existing ecosystems so as to achieve energy conservation, carbon reduction, and a sustainable ecological environment. Views along the trail are breathtaking, making it a “Grand Tour Route” that everyone should take on at least once in their lifetime. Since the GEO began promoting the Taipei Grand Trail last September, there have already been 2,700 people who have completed the challenge. 

The third construction awarded, the 2018 Military Cemetery Cremains Burial Niche Facility and Barrier-Free Ramp Installation Construction (Second Row in Xiao Area), is located at Taipei Military Cemetery. In response to the need of nearly a thousand burials every year, unused land burial areas overgrown with weeds are redesigned into an orderly burial niche area. Furthermore, to coordinate with the stairway-like terrain at the original land burial area, friendly ramps are installed to offer convenience for all pedestrians. And to integrate the GEO’s construction experience of a leisure and reservation space, resting chairs are set up, broad-leaved podocarpus, rhododendron, and other plants are arranged to beautify the surrounding. An environment appropriate for relaxation is planned out, and the originally gloomy and depressing ambiance at the cemetery has been gradually improved, infusing lively colors to the whole area.

The last awarded construction is the “2018 Taipei City Hillslope and Creeks Maintenance and Facility Improvement Construction (North Area)”, which is situated at Zhuzihu in Beitou District. The construction mainly focused on the renovation of the circular trails at Dinghu, reinforcement of the trails’ water permeability, and creation of a hillslope barrier-free space. On the other hand, with respect to improvement on the ditch in front of Hutian Elementary School, coordination with the original appearance of the terrain was made to preserve the primitive plants and to reduce any impact on the primordial ecosystem. After the ditch was properly revamped, the original natural sceneries were restored, and city residents are now able to take a stroll over the secret natural trails situated amidst the tranquil calmness and enjoy the cooling river streams and fresh air in the mountains. 

The GEO stated that the Office has been working on the foundation of disaster prevention and safety as it creates constructions that possess simultaneously disaster prevention functions and a natural landscape. In addition, local humanities, culture, and history, soil and water conservation, environmental education, ecological and natural surroundings, and other elements are incorporated, and coordination with conditions at the existing environment is also achieved to naturally blend the constructions amidst the woods. As a result, the constructions are able to provide safe hillslope environments and first-rate leisure and recreation space in nature to all city residents. 

Anyone who needs to access pictures related to this article is welcome to visit the GEO official website (https://english.geo.gov.taipei/) for reference and download.