Traffic on Highway No. 17 in Pingtung County will soon flow uninterrupted because a new bridge will soon be completed, the -Directorate-General of Highways (DGH) said.
The DGH said the Shuangyuan Bridge (雙園橋) connecting Linyuan (林園), Greater Kaohsiung, to Sinyuan (新園), Pingtung County, was an important route between the two counties.
The old Shuangyuan bridge was damaged by Typhoon -Morakot in August 2009, with about 400m completely destroyed by the flood.
“We managed to resume traffic on the old bridge by building a temporary steel bridge,” said Yu Cheng-yu (余成鈺), a section chief at the DGH’s southern engineering office.
“Then we built another new bridge nearby, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year,” Yu said.
The DGH put the cost of construction for the new bridge at NT$3.8 billion (US$125.8 million), making it the most expensive bridge to be rebuilt.
Costs were high because the entire construction involved about 3km, including the main bridge and passages leading to the bridge, it said.
To make sure the new bridge could withstand future floods, it was built with only 19 piers, down from 67.
The width of the bridge was also widened from 19m to 26m, making it possible to accommodate two fast lanes, one slow lane and a bike lane.
The DGH said northbound lanes on the bridge opened for traffic in September, adding that two-way traffic would be opened by the end of this month.
Meanwhile, the Donggang Bridge (東港橋) in Pingtung County is scheduled to be completed by August next year. Northbound lanes could be opened on Aug. 26.
The DGH said the new Donggang Bridge is also designed to withstand floods, adding that it was built with only five piers. It was also widened to 28m and was lengthened to 382m.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Travel agencies in Taiwan are working to secure alternative flights for travelers bound for New Zealand for the Lunar New Year holiday, as Air New Zealand workers are set to strike next week. The airline said that it has confirmed that the planned industrial action by its international wide-body cabin crew would go ahead on Thursday and Friday next week. While the Auckland-based carrier pledged to take reasonable measures to mitigate the impact of the workers’ strike, an Air New Zealand flight arriving at Taipei from Auckland on Thursday and another flight departing from Taipei for Auckland on Saturday would have to
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
RSS