Source:
http://focustaiwan.tw/news/asoc/201908150012.aspx
2019/08/15 18:31:35
Taipei, Aug. 15 (CNA) Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) demanded a design change Thursday for the third terminal of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport so that construction of its main building can start quickly.
"Now that the government has increased the budget for the project ... the original design must be modified to allow construction of the project to be kick started as soon as possible," Lin told the media.
"The bid to seek a constructor to carry out the project has failed (three times) because of its sophisticated design, and we have asked the design consultant company to make a change within six months to attract bidders to the project," he noted.
"If it fails to meet our demand, we will consider terminating the contract with the design consultant company," he added.
Lin said an effective solution must be worked out to deal with the problem, while peripheral projects such as aprons and taxiways that have been launched since May 2017 are to be halted for the time being.
Asked whether construction of the third terminal could be completed in 2023 after the timeline having been extended from 2020, Lin said that it will depend on the design changes that are made.
In 2016, London-based Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners won the bid to design the terminal in partnership with Taiwan-based CECI Engineering Consultants Inc., featuring the rooftiles used on traditional Taiwanese-style houses, the shape of Taiwan's magnificent mountain ranges and the shape of its ocean waves and seas of cloud.
It is the largest single public construction project in Taiwan to have been undertaken since the 1970s and has seen its budget increased from NT$74.7 billion (US$2.38 billion) earlier this year to NT$78.9 billion due to the complexity of the design and the lack of bidders.
(By Flor Wang and Wang Shu-fen)
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