Fri, Feb 13, 2004 page2

• Engineers race to stem flooding

  FINGER IN THE DYKE The last three years have seen floods cause millions of dollars of damage, but a succession of construction projects aim to put an end to the problem

  • By Chiu Yu-Tzu / STAFF REPORTER
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  For 69-year-old Lin Tsai-wang (林在旺), fighting the Chinese communists on Kinmen in 1958 wasn't nearly as bad as battling the recent floods that have threatened his home in Hsichih, Taipei County.

  "The Keelung River has burst its banks during typhoon season in recent years and the flooding has been getting higher each time," Lin told the Taipei Times.

  

  The 86.4km-long Keelung River originates in Pinghsi township in Taipei County and merges with the Tamsui River in Guandu, Taipei after passing through several townships.

  MAP: WATER RESOURCES AGENCY OF THE MINISTRY OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS

  When Lin moved from the rainy seaport of Suao in Ilan County to the Taipei metropolitan area 20 years ago, Hsichih, which sits along the Keelung River, was an economic boom town with a flourishing real-estate market.

  

  This tunnel, with a diameter of about 12m, will allow up to 1,310 tonnes of water per second to flow from the Keelung River to the northeast coast.

  PHOTO: CHIU YU-TZU, TAIPEI TIMES

  However, since November 2000, when Typhoon Xangsane skirted Taiwan, Lin has witnessed three large-scale floods. The worst was caused by Typhoon Nari in September 2001, which saw the first floor of Lin's apartment building completely submerged. Other areas in Hsichih were covered by 9m of water.

  According to the Taipei County Government, almost 20,000 buildings were damaged by floods caused by Nari.

  By comparison, in the 44-day artillery war that young Lin fought in 46 years ago, some 4,000 houses in Kinmen were destroyed by Chinese shells.

  Lin, however, has been happy to see new flood-prevention work being carried out by the Water Resources Agency.

  According to Liou Jium-ming (劉駿明), director-general of the 10th River Management Office under the agency, flood-prevention measures are being installed at 11 locations along Keelung River, including Juifang, Keelung and Hsichih. Construction is due to be completed by the end of this year.

  "We estimate that an area covering more than 1,000 hectares of land will be protected," Liou said. "The construction work will be able to contain flooding equal to that caused by Nari in 2001."

  Engineers involved in the construction at Hsichih said they hoped to finish their work in June before the rainy season starts.

  A 2.45km spillway tunnel under construction in Juifang will be able to divert rainfall collected by 18 percent of the river's 491km2 drainage area to the northeast coast, lowering the river's water level by some 3m.

  A NT$6 billion flood-diversion project designed and built by the Japanese Kajima Corp is scheduled to be completed by October.

  "Even though we have had a lot of complaints from residents living near the exit of the tunnel, the tunnel project remains a crucial flood-mitigation strategy for people living along the Keelung River," said Lin Yi-shen (林益生), a Water Resources Agency engineer in charge of the tunnel project.

  Because the tunnel diverts fresh water to one of the northeast coast's main fishing grounds, more than NT$800 million has been allocated to compensate affected fishermen and residents.

  Yang Lei (楊磊), an environmental engineering professor at National Sun Yat-sen University, said the ecological impact of the tunnel project was worrying because sandy soil might also enter the sea along with the river water.

  "Ecologically speaking, we hope to see not only short-term ecological research projects about the project but also long-term ones," Yang said.

  US engineer Chiahsiung Charles Tai, chief engineer with the US Department of Water Resources under the St. Johns River Water Management District, one of five water management districts in Florida, said that he was aware of the tunnel's problems.

  "The tunnel is actually an unavoidable outcome of past politics, economic development and social transformation," said Tai, who is in Taiwan for an international conference on ecological engineering organized by the Cabinet's Public Construction Commission.

  Taking Florida as an example, Tai said that the US government has adopted innovative engineering concepts in order to restore ecological systems and revive wetlands.

  But in Taiwan, in the early 1990s, an ambitious Keelung River treatment project aimed at straightening the river's watercourse and transforming its flood plains into urban areas was carried out in Taipei City, Tai said.

  Many local experts said that the loss of bends in the Keelung River made Taipei City more vulnerable. This message hit home when Typhoon Nari came knocking three years ago. Taipei suffered major flooding and a water-supply suspension was imposed on 500,000 homes. The second floor of many buildings in the Neihu and Nankang districts were submerged.

  Water agency director-general Chen Shen-hsien (陳伸賢) told the Taipei Times that although northern Taiwan in the last two years had been harmed more by droughts, the threat of flooding still existed.
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