Kinmen Bridge (金門大橋), the nation’s first major sea bridge, officially opened to traffic yesterday after 12 years of construction.
The 5.4km bridge connects Jinning Township’s (金寧) Cihhu (慈湖) on Kinmen County’s main island to Houtou (后頭) on Lesser Kinmen, or Lieyu (烈嶼).
“We have waited for this bridge for 30 years,” Kinmen County Commissioner Yang Cheng-wu (楊鎮浯) said yesterday morning at the opening ceremony hosted by the county government.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications
The bridge has been a dream of Kinmen residents for many generations, and now residents of Lieyu do not need to rely on good weather when in need of emergency medical treatment or daily necessities, Yang said, adding that they can welcome a new era of development.
Kinmen Bridge not only meets the goal of “30 percent traffic and 70 percent tourism,” it is also about the hopes of the past, the realization of a dream and prosperity for the future, he said.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) attended the ceremony.
Photo: Wu Cheng-ting, Taipei Times
Construction of the bridge was approved in 2010 when he was president, Ma said, adding that builders began work the following year, and it took 12 years to complete.
During the groundbreaking ceremony, he had said that the bridge would be a symbol of gratitude and compensation from the main island of Taiwan to the outlying islands, Ma said.
Vice Premier Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) said at the opening that Kinmen Bridge is one of Taiwan’s proudest domestic engineering accomplishments.
He thanked the engineering teams for overcoming all the difficulties to complete the project.
“Kinmen and Lesser Kinmen can hold hands in welcoming a new future,” he said.
Now that the bridge has opened to traffic, residents of Lesser Kinmen do not have to worry about boat trips being canceled due to bad weather, and the trip by vehicle takes 30 minutes less, Shen said.
Residents on both sides of the bridge can now prosper together by sharing water, electricity and daily necessities, he said.
Kinmen Bridge is designed to have a service life of 100 years, and there are systems monitoring its structural integrity, traffic and weather 24 hours a day to ensure the safety of drivers, Shen said.
The bridge is “a highway on the sea,” so people can enjoy a wide, beautiful view of the ocean melting into the sky during the day, while lighting at night makes the bridge a tourist attraction, the Directorate-General of Highways said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Jessica Chen (陳玉珍), who represents the Kinmen constituency, said at the opening that “there will only be one Kinmen from now on.”
MAKING WAVES: China’s maritime militia could become a nontraditional threat in war, clogging up shipping lanes to prevent US or Japanese intervention, a report said About 1,900 Chinese ships flying flags of convenience and fishing vessels that participated in China’s military exercises around Taiwan last month and in January have been listed for monitoring, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said yesterday. Following amendments to the Commercial Port Act (商港法) and the Law of Ships (船舶法) last month, the CGA can designate possible berthing areas or deny ports of call for vessels suspected of loitering around areas where undersea cables can be accessed, Oceans Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. The list of suspected ships, originally 300, had risen to about 1,900 as
Japan’s strategic alliance with the US would collapse if Tokyo were to turn away from a conflict in Taiwan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday, but distanced herself from previous comments that suggested a possible military response in such an event. Takaichi expressed her latest views on a nationally broadcast TV program late on Monday, where an opposition party leader criticized her for igniting tensions with China with the earlier remarks. Ties between Japan and China have sunk to the worst level in years after Takaichi said in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese
The WHO ignored early COVID-19 warnings from Taiwan, US Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Jim O’Neill said on Friday, as part of justification for Washington withdrawing from the global health body. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday said that the US was pulling out of the UN agency, as it failed to fulfill its responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The WHO “ignored early COVID warnings from Taiwan in 2019 by pretending Taiwan did not exist, O’Neill wrote on X on Friday, Taiwan time. “It ignored rigorous science and promoted lockdowns.” The US will “continue international coordination on infectious
DEEP-STRIKE CAPABILITY: The scenario simulated a PLA drill that turned into an assault on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, with the launchers providing fire support Taiwan yesterday conducted this year’s first military exercises at Longsiang Base in Taichung, demonstrating the newly acquired High Mobility Artillery Rocket System’s (HIMARS) ability to provide fire support and deep-strike capabilities. The scenario simulated an attack on Penghu County, with HIMARS trucks immediately rolling into designated launch areas and firing barrages at the Wangan (望安) and Cimei (七美) islands, simulating the provision of fire support against invading forces. The HIMARS are supposed to “fire and leave,” which would significantly increase personnel and equipment survivability, a military official said. The drill simulated an exercise launched by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern
RSS