Department of Rapid Transit Systems

Known as the Oscars in the field of engineering, the “23rd Public Construction Golden Quality Award” awards ceremony was hosted by the Public Construction Commission, Executive Yuan on December 26, 2023. “Section contract CQ860 construction on the Wanda-Zhonghe-Shulin line (Phase I),” which is being handled by Taipei City Government DORTS First District Project Office (1st DPO), won the favor of the judges for its excellent construction quality and innovation and was awarded the Golden Quality Award for “Excellent” Civil Engineering. This was following Wanda line section contract CQ850A’s winning an award at the 22nd Public Construction Golden Quality Award. On January 30, 1st DPO presented the award at a municipal administrative meeting, sharing the glory with Taipei City Mayor Chiang Wan-an and the other city government colleagues. In addition to thanking the MRT team for their sacrifices and dedication, Mayor Chiang also expressed a high degree of affirmation and encouragement for the construction quality and diligence of MRT construction projects.

DORTS stated that Wanda line Phase I section contract CQ860 construction is located in Zhonghe District and Tucheng District of New Taipei City. With a total length of 2.75 kilometers, the eastern side is connected with Station LG06 on the Wanda line and Zhonghe Station on the Circular line, and the western side is connected with Wanda line Jincheng Depot and Wanda line Phase II; furthermore, it will be an important section for testing and operations prior to the completion of construction and opening for operations. The scope of construction includes two underground stations, six sections of shield tunnel, and two sections of cut-and-cover tunnel. With the simultaneous implementation of both shield tunnel and cut-and-cover construction methods, the interface is considerably complex.

DORTS specifically pointed out that the construction of this section is located on a narrow road with a width of only 20 meters, and it is in close proximity to industrial, commercial and residential areas with heavily trafficked local roads. In addition, stations, cut-and-cover tunnels, and shield tunnels are being simultaneously constructed, and the traffic maintenance measures have a large impact on local traffic. The entire project is extremely challenging, especially an underground station with an excavation depth of 27 meters and shield tunnels which are stacked on top of one another. In addition to utilizing a shield machine to jack and slide through the underground station, replacement disassembly, transportation, and assembly operations have effectively reduced construction times and decreased the impacts on ground traffic.

DORTS also mentioned that parts of the strata in this section are both soft and hard with highly complex geological conditions making this 3.4-kilometer-long project particularly challenging with its six sections of shield tunnel and a total of 12 departures and arrivals. The construction team employed three sets of shield machines to carry out tunneling in different directions and diligently overcome the challenges. In particular, under the dual impact of the COVID-19 epidemic and labor and material shortages in recent years, being able to coordinate and eliminate difficulties and urge manufacturers to promote the project and successfully complete the six tunnels was not an easy task. 

DORTS stated that a number of innovations were simultaneously proposed for this construction project, for instance replacing the cross wall with ground piles to avoid pipe damage and utilizing the sliding construction method of non-disassembling shield machine to reduce the possible safety hazards caused by the disassembly stage. Of these innovations, the jacking and sliding shield machine method of passing through Zhonghe Senior High School Station was the recipient of the 2023 Taipei City Government Creative Proposal Competition Award of Excellence.

DORTS Commissioner Cheng De-fa stated that for this year’s “Public Construction Golden Quality Award” a total of 108 projects were submitted for selection, and the number of participating projects reached a record high to be able to win the highest honor in the national public works. He thanked the judges for their favor and acknowledgment of the hard work and unremitting efforts of the MRT team. During construction, in addition to overcoming a wide variety of challenges and pursuing excellent engineering quality, DORTS also brought about multiple contributions in terms of energy conservation and carbon reduction and environmental protection and sustainable development; moreover, they will continue to make improvement towards creating a safer and more livable city.