A road collapse happened in Kaoshiung on March 22. An emergency road repair is under way and nearby residents have been evacuated for safety concerns.
Chen Hai-tung, Commissioner, Department of Building Affairs, Kaohsiung: “Hurry up! I'm more nervous about this than you are.”
Kaohsiung Department of Building Affairs Commissioner Chen Hai-tung was furious and lashed out at the project manager for the road surface collapse that happened on Ziquiang 1st Road on Tuesday, March 22 at 4 a.m. The road continued to cave in as time went by, causing construction fences to fall apart and the water tower to tilt dangerously. It was a scary sight to residents nearby.
Resident next door: “Of course, I'm worried. It looked so scary in the morning. What happened?”
Water started leaking when we dug about eight meters down. I think it's because of the underground water pressure. We are balancing the water pressure right now and we'll take care of the following.
Construction workers quickly filled up sandbags and stacked them against the part that was leaking. This construction was set to build a 15-story building with two basements. Water started to leak when construction reached eight meters underground. The Department of Building Affairs said the road collapse was probably due to an improper interlocking of steel sheet piles underground which caused the soil to loosen and water to seep through. The collapse was over seven meters long and wide.
Chen Hai-tung, Commissioner, Department of Building Affairs, Kaohsiung: “Soil is looser and there is more underground water in this area. So constructions accidents are likely to happen when you try to dig for basements. The construction company should have made a more careful evaluation of risks when conducting excavation work.”
The Department gave a fine of NT$90,000 to the construction company and ordered an immediate stop to the construction. Residents nearby have been evacuated for safety since the road collapse has gotten bigger. The area is currently closed off for repair. Officials say the repair would take about three days.
建管處長生氣怒飆建案負責人，這處興建中建案因施工疏失，造成所在地高雄自強一路跟83巷交叉口，22日清晨4點多出現塌陷，而且範圍越擴越大，不僅工地圍欄及水塔嚴重傾斜，連路面都塌出一個大洞，嚇壞僅隔一條巷子的透天住戶。
隔壁住戶說：「當然會擔心，早上看起來這麼可怕，很恐怖，到底是怎麼一回事？」
建案負責人指出：「深度到8米多的時候它有一些漏水出來，因為是水壓的關係，現在等這些水壓全部都平衡之後，我們再我們先處理一下。」
施工人員挖沙裝袋趕緊堵住滲漏的地下水，這處建案預計要蓋地上15層、地下2層，卻在挖到地下8公尺時出現漏水。建管處判斷，是地下室鋼板樁擋土壁密合度不足，且外側補強止水樁密度不足，導致附近路面土壤流失、坍陷，長寬超過7公尺以上。
高雄市建管處長陳海通表示：「（附近是）沙質地形，你在開挖地下室而且水位又很高，所以在開挖地下室的時候很容易發生事故，在開挖、整個工程的施工過程裡面，他們（建商）都要針對這部分去做一個風險的管控。」
建管處將依違反建築法，對建案承造人等罰鍰9萬元並勒令停工，但由於塌陷範圍持續擴大，為確保安全，除了最靠近的透天住戶須強制撤離，區公所也緊急通知鄰近共6戶，預備撤離。目前該路段已經全面封閉，建管處估計3天才能修復路面並通行。
