Full access to the Suhua Highway (Highway No. 9) is expected to be restored on Sunday after a landslide on Wednesday night blocked the southern entrance of a rock shed in Dacingshuei (大清水) in Hualien’s Sioulin Township (秀林), the Directorate-General of Highways said yesterday.
No casualties were reported.
Suhua Highway is a major highway that connects the west and east coasts, and failure to resume two-way traffic on the damaged section could disrupt homebound travelers during the Lunar New Year holiday, which begins on Friday next week.
Photo: CNA
The highway agency said that excavators must work simultaneously from the north and south entrances to break a 78-tonne rock before debris can be removed.
The first phase is scheduled to be completed by 8am today, the agency said.
Eastbound travelers can use added railway and ferry services or alternative highway routes while the passage is blocked, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said.
Photo: CNA
Large cargo and passenger vehicles can use the South Link Highway, while small passenger vehicles and medium-size buses can travel north by switching to Freeway No. 5 via Highways No. 8 and No. 7A, or switching to Freeway No. 6 via Highway No. 14A, the ministry said.
The Taiwan Railways Administration yesterday said it is running six extra express trains in both directions from today until Sunday on its Yilan-Hualien route with stops at Yilan, Luodong, Suao, Nanao, Heping, Sincheng and Hualien.
The Port and Maritime Bureau has also arranged three passenger ships — Ho Fu Express, Taipei Express and Kai Shiuan No. 8 — and a military vessel to carry passengers between ports in Suao and Hualien.
The Ho Fu Express can ferry 40 vehicles and 442 passengers in one sailing, while the Kai Shiuan No. 8 can carry 250 vehicles and 330 people, the bureau said.
The ferry services are to begin at 9:30am, and people can start booking at 6:30am, the ministry said.
The Dacingshuei section is to be reopened to traffic by 5pm on Sunday, Deputy Minister of the Interior Cheng Tsung-yen (陳宗彥) said, adding that teams are working around the clock.
The highways agency said that it has submitted a plan to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to further enhance the safety of the Suhua Highway by reinforcing three geographically fragile sections, with construction to be completed by 2032.
The rock shed is to be replaced by a 9.7km tunnel, it said.
Agency official Li Shun-cheng (李順成) said that about 3,000 vehicles pass through the blocked section of the Suhua Highway in one direction on an average weekday, rising to about 6,500 on weekends, and more than 7,000 during holidays.
Additional reporting by CNA
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