Local authorities closed off the section of Provincial Highway No. 8 between the entrance to Taroko National Park and Tianxiang (天祥) in Hualien County at 1:30pm today and evacuated 800 people, citing concerns that a roadside barrier lake could overflow or collapse as early as 6pm.
The dam and lake are located near the 175.5km mark of the Central Cross-Island Highway, known as Provincial Highway No. 8, outside Jin Heng Tunnel (靳珩隧道), the Highway Bureau's Eastern Region Branch Office said.
Photo courtesy of the Taroko National Park Administration
The location is about 950m away from Swallow Grotto Trail (燕子口步道), the office said.
Photo courtesy of the Highway Bureau
Construction workers discovered the barrier lake at about noon today, and preliminary measurements showed that the top of the dam was higher than the road surface at the west entrance of the tunnel, the office said.
The water level in the lake has been rising at a rate of about 1m per hour and is currently about 10m below the road surface, it said.
It is estimated that if the water continues to rise, it could eventually overflow onto the road, prompting the road closure and evacuation, the office said.
The lake is about 100m long, 30m to 40m wide and about 25m deep, said Chen Pao-kuang (陳寶匡), who heads the Buluowan Station of the Taroko National Park Administration.
The water could overflow onto the road as early as 5pm, Chen said.
Huang Chun-tse (黃群策), director-general of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency's Hualien Office, said that the Highway Bureau sent an excavator to the site to remove the accumulated debris, but officials are concerned that the work may not keep pace with the rising water level.
The nearest village, Fushih (富世) in Sioulin Township (秀林), is not expected to be affected, while a downstream power plant has been told to shut its water intake, and residents have been warned to stay away from the riverbed, he added.
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