Retaining walls have ID cards: a first for Taipei City

(Taiwan Business News) The Taipei City Government is the first to give artificial slopes "ID card" codes, incorporating every piece of data into an information system for full-scale listing and control. Retaining wall "ID cards" will be installed one after another, and their maintenance obligors will be supervised to carry out preventive management and maintenance. As of now, surveys and records have been completed for more than 27,000 entries.

Huang Li-yuan, Director of the Geotechnical Engineering Office of Taipei City, said that Taipei City is not only the first in the country to conduct surveys and records for artificial slopes, but is also the first to install exclusive "ID card" code marker plates for retaining walls (like household doorplate numbers, car license plates, etc.), clearly indicating the maintenance obligor, so as to urge maintenance obligors to carry out maintenance work in normal times, and, when a disaster occurs, to allow the public to clearly report the disaster location, helping disaster relief units quickly reach the disaster site, seize the timeliness of rescue, and reduce disaster casualties and losses.

Chen Chih-cheng, Chairman of the Soil and Water Conservation Professional Engineers Association, said that the Geotechnical Engineering Office of Taipei City is the first in the country to conduct surveys and records for artificial slopes on hillside land throughout the city and to establish retaining wall "ID cards." In the normal management of soil and water conservation on hillside land, the Geotechnical Engineering Office has already taken a big step forward, while the subsequent maintenance part should be carried out by maintenance obligors in accordance with Article 8 of the Soil and Water Conservation Act to implement soil and water conservation treatment and maintenance. If the public has any questions about the maintenance of soil and water conservation facilities on hillside land, the Geotechnical Engineering Office can provide free consultation services through the soil and water conservation service team, which is quite convenient.

The Geotechnical Engineering Office of Taipei City emphasized that, in consideration of the provisions of the "Personal Data Protection Act," "ID cards" are currently only installed for artificial slopes managed and maintained by public agencies. During the installation process, members of the public often come by to ask what this is being done for. After detailed explanations by the engineering staff of the Geotechnical Engineering Office, the public can understand the purpose of the retaining wall "ID cards" and also approve of the innovative approach and concept of retaining wall "ID cards."