The newly opened Hsuehshan Tunnel seems to be having a bad week: One day after it was temporarily closed down due to heavy smog, which set off the fire alarm system, it experienced yet another incident yesterday.
A 20-minute power shortage occurred in both the eastbound and westbound sections of the tunnel yesterday afternoon, as the automatic transfer switches in the power station that supplies electricity to the Chiang Wei-shui Freeway malfunctioned.
The signals in the tunnel continued to function after the system automatically switched to the uninterruptible power supplies. Overall lighting inside the tunnel resumed at 3:25pm.
PHOTO: HSU MIN-JUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
The tunnel's maintenance staff managed to repair problems at the power station at 4:27pm, restoring the power supply system for the entire highway.
Reacting to the reports, Minister of Transportation and Communications Kuo Yao-chi (
She said she was waiting for the Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau to turn in an investigation report before deciding whether any changes need to be made.
Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday that it would take the initiative in testing the carbon monoxide levels in the tunnel to ensure passenger safety.
The EPA made the remarks in response to a report in the Chinese-language daily, China Times, which said that academics have warned that the temperature inside the tunnel could reach 50?C whenever there is traffic congestion and that people could collapse within 30 minutes.
The 12.9-km Hsuehshan Tunnel, the longest in Southeast Asia, has attracted heavy traffic since its opening in the middle of last moth.
Yang Chi-yuan (楊之遠), director-general of the EPA's Department of Air Quality Protection and Noise Control, said the public can rest assured that the air quality in the Hsuehshan Tunnel in normal traffic conditions is within acceptable limits, but added that carbon monoxide does accumulate in the tunnel if there is a serious traffic jam.
He noted that in normal traffic, a car can pass through the tunnel in 20-30 minutes. But when traffic slows down, the level of carbon monoxide in the tunnel can slowly accumulate, which is bad for human health.
Yang said that the EPA conducted tests in Tzuchiang Tunnel and Hsinhai Tunnel last year, and the maximum level of carbon monoxide in the two tunnels stood at less than 100 parts per million (ppm), which is harmful to human health.
But Yang said that the length of the two tunnels cannot be compared with that of Hsuehshan Tunnel.
Taiwan has yet to set air quality standards for tunnels, using as a reference the World Road Association (PIARC) which has set the maximum acceptable concentration of carbon monoxide at between 100-150 ppm.
Additional reporting by Shelley Shan
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