The National Freeway Bureau yesterday activated its first dip-slope monitoring device at the 2.72km (2K+720) mark on the Formosa Freeway (Freeway No. 3) following a deadly landslide last month that claimed the lives of four people.
The task force, entrusted with investigating the cause of the landslide and inspect the freeway by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC), has said the dip slope had water seepage problems. Dip slopes at the 6K+935 and 7K+047 markers also have the same problem, the task force said.
The bureau's chief engineer Lien Shyi-ching (連錫卿) said another device that monitors the movements of such slopes will be installed at the 3.1km mark by Monday next week. Meanwhile, the two other locations mentioned and five other dip slopes along the freeway will have monitoring devices in place by May 25.
“We are aiming to install monitoring devices on 32 dip slopes along Freeway No. 3 by July 20,” Lien added.
In its preliminary investigation last week, the task force identified water seepage as the main cause of last month's killer landslide. In a press briefing about the investigation’s progress, task force executive secretary Lee Wei-feng (李維峰) yesterday said that experts had found that several of the grid columns on the dip slope at the 2K+720 mark in Keelung had shifted from their original positions.
Lee said the task force also found the slope protection facility on the northbound side of the 84K+450 mark in Hsinchu County has cracks. The slope on the northbound section at the 150K+300 mark in Taichung was found to have caved in, he said.
To address the problems, Lien said the bureau has started the construction of drainage facilities on the slope at the 2K+720 and 150k+300 marks. The bureau has also used concrete to fill in the cracks at the 84K+450 mark.
Lee said the team has also found damage to the slope protection facility at the southbound entrance of the Zhongliao Tunnel (中寮隧道).
While the bureau has entrusted a contractor to redesign the facility, the task force recommended the bureau address the problem quickly.
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