Excavation for the New Zihciang Tunnel (新自強隧道) — the final tunnel in the Hualien-Taitung Railway dual-track project — could be completed by the end of this month or the beginning of next month, the Railway Reconstruction Bureau said, adding that its plan to open the tunnel in June 2018 remains unchanged.
The bureau said that the project has required the construction of four new tunnels — the Sikou (溪口), Guangfu (光復), Shanli (山里) and New Zihciang tunnels.
New Zihciang is the only tunnel still under construction, the bureau said.
Work on the Zihciang tunnel began in Jan. 2010, but was delayed after construction crews encountered a layer of silt clay, the bureau said.
Workers often have to trudge through silt and face the threat of land subsidence, the bureau said, adding that excavation of the underground tunnel had led to a 3m wide and 80m deep crater on the surface.
Due to difficulties encountered in the tunnel, the bureau said it decided to install electrification equipment in the old Zihciang Tunnel so that trains on the Hualien-Taitung line can use it while construction on the new tunnel is completed.
The bureau said crews built a central pilot tunnel before working on the rest of the tunnel.
“This method has effectively controlled the deformation of the tunnel and frequency of land subsidence, allowing construction crews to move forward steadily at a speed of 6m per month,” the bureau said.
This would be the first time this method has been used for a public infrastructure project in Taiwan, the bureau said.
While excavation could be completed as early as the end of this month, the bureau said it still needs a little more than two years to finish the tunnel, to install items such as tunnel lining and signaling systems.
The bureau said it was initially hoping to open the tunnel in June last year, when the entire Hualien-Taitung line was electrified.
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