Uneven Land Treatment, Miaoli, Taiwan

The project located at a vacant lot owned by a local authority in Miaoli. There was nothing but grass, soil, and cobbles on the site.

The landform and nature of soil were uneven, and swales were found on site. Transferring excess earth to another place might cause problems in traffic and budget. Moreover, excavation and transportation might bother the community with dust pollution. A better solution rather than transferring the excess earth was expected.

The primary need was to flatten the land. The idea was to carry out feasible treatment on site, to avoid unnecessary problem. A suitable ground level of the lot was determined through site investigation and survey. Considering the landform, budget, time, and possible impact to the environment and traffic around, the design team came up with the soil retaining method that incorporated the gabion and ACEBag™ sand bag as lining. Gabions with sand bag lining were filled with in-situ ground material and properly compacted. Through arrangement, the gabions formed the side wall of the lot with designed height. This was a simple but high efficient method, with less construction interface, less budget, and less impact to the nearby environment and traffic.

The project purpose is achieved effectively. Although compaction is properly done in the filling process, some degree of settlement is still expected especially after rain. Gabion is a kind of flexible structures, it allows slight transformation without endanger the safety of the entire structure. On the whole, this particular construction only consumes a small volume of gabion and sand bag; and the result only changes the landform of the lot and not the overall environment. Therefore, the original ecosystem is able to recover soon after the short interruption of construction.