The Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) barrier lake in Hualien County has almost been drained after nearly a month of construction work, the Hualien branch of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency (FNCA) said today.
The barrier lake burst into Hualien County’s Guangfu Township (光復) on Sept. 23 last year, triggering a deadly flood that killed 19.
The lake’s stored water volume has been successfully reduced from 279,000m³ to 26,000m³, the Hualien branch said.
Photo courtesy of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency Hualien branch
A construction team last month carved a temporary access road along the river valley to access the high mountain area and began excavation work on Dec. 28.
However, an 18-hectare landslide downstream on Jan. 11 narrowed the river channel and blocked all access routes, the branch said.
About 14 construction workers were evacuated by helicopter this morning, and all have been confirmed safe, the agency added.
Photo courtesy of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency Hualien branch
The National Air Service Corps assisted in today’s evacuation, leaving all construction equipment behind in case it is needed in the future, it said.
Over the past month, construction workers have faced road disruptions, food shortages, low temperatures, unstable weather conditions, physical exhaustion, rockfalls that buried machinery and landslides that blocked supply and transportation routes, the agency said.
Meanwhile, the Hualien branch said it has commissioned a research team from National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University to visit the landslide site on the left bank of the Mataian River, which departed yesterday under the guidance of professional mountain guides.
They are scheduled to complete their survey on Thursday before hiking back down the mountain, it added.
Their mission is to build a geotechnical model of the collapsed area to support future stability analysis and disaster risk assessment, it said.
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