Minister blasts open new tunnel

After nearly 13 years of floods and collapses, the Taipei-Ilan Expressway's Hsuehshan Tunnel (雪山隧道) was finally completed yesterday with a boom.

The completion of drilling on the westbound tunnel of the Hsuehshan Tunnel system -- the fifth-longest in the world -- was marked with Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Ling-san (林陵三) pushing a button to detonate explosives, clearing away the final 2.8m of rock.

"This is the fifth longest tunnel in the world and the longest in Southeast Asia," Lin said. "Now there is a straight line connecting Taipei and Ilan. This is a historic moment for Taiwan."

Lien San-chu (連三祝), Hsueh-shan tunnel construction station manager, said: "We've faced 19 floods and 29 collapses of the excavation face during construction. These tunnels are marked with the shadows of all those who have made sacrifices for its completion. I've waited for this moment for over a decade."

Lien and four of his brothers have been working on the tunnel since construction began 13 years ago.

Over that time, five premiers have left their posts without seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Construction began under Hau Pei-tsun (郝柏村) and continued through the terms of Lien Chan (連戰), Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), Tang Fei (唐飛), and Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄). Eight transport ministers have come and gone during that time.

The 12.9km tunnel system consists of 57 tunnels, including two primary tunnels for travel between Ilan and Taipei, 28 pedestrian connection tunnels, located every 350m along the primary tunnels, and eight vehicle connection tunnels, at every 1.5km.

"At its deepest point, the tunnel measures 515m below the surface. To give you an idea of what that measurement indicates, Taipei 101 is 508m in height," said Taiwan Area National Expressway Engineering Bureau deputy chief engineer Tseng Dar-jen (曾大仁).

Construction on the tunnel began in July 1991 with a pilot tunnel to gauge the geographical features of the mountain. Drilling on the two primary tunnels began July 1993.

Neither President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) nor Premier Yu Shyi-kun, a native of Ilan, were present at the ceremony yesterday. After the criticism brought about by the inauguration of the Taichung Chingchuankang International Airport ahead of the presidential election, the completion of the tunnel was a potential target for accusations of political opportunism.

"Tunneling experts the world over were watching to see if we would be able to successfully drill this tunnel. If it were not for the upcoming presidential election, the significance of the achievement would not have been played down so much," said Cheng Wen-lon (鄭文隆), director-general of the Taiwan Area National Expressway Engineering Bureau.

However, Yu plans to mark the completion of drilling on the tunnel on Wednesday next week with a parade of roughly 30 jeeps transporting residents of Ilan to Taipei City.

The Taipei-Ilan Expressway, also referred to as the Peiyi Expressway, will run from Nangang (南港) in Taipei City to Suao (蘇澳) in Ilan County, passing through Pinglin (平林) and Luodong (羅東) on the way. The expressway will connect with National Freeway No. 3, or the second north-south freeway, to the west, and to National Freeway No. 5 to the east.

Travel from Taipei to Ilan will be reduced to just 30 minutes from the current two hours. The expressway is slated to open to the public by the end of next year, and drilling on the eastbound tunnel is expected to be concluded by September.