A dedicated website commemorating those who contributed to the construction of the bridges and tunnels connecting Taiwan’s highway network has been set up by the Directorate General of Highways under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications.
Six months in the making, the website is expected to prove popular with civil engineering buffs and Taiwan historians. The majority of its content will be collated and published in a book by the end of this year.
“The names of bridges and tunnels may appear as fleeting signs on the side of the road to drivers, but they are in fact reminders of the individual devotion and sacrifice that made their journeys possible,” DGH Planning Division Director Lee Chung-chang said.
“Of the 28 transportation structures bearing the names of people, eight honor DGH officials who gave their lives to the construction project.”
Chinwen Tunnel on Provincial Highway No. 9 along the east coast is one of the earliest examples. The tunnel cut through Qingshui Cliff on the Suhua section of the highway. DGH section head Wu Chin-wen fell from the cliff when scouting the site and died June 7, 1950.
Huaijing Bridge on Provincial Highway No. 20 tells a more recent tragic story. Better known as the Southern Cross-Island Highway, the 209-kilometer road connects Tainan City and Taitung County, winding through Yushan National Park and the 3,000-meter Central Mountain Range.
The structure is in memory of engineer Hsu Jing-wen, who was tasked with planning reconstruction on the Xiangyang section ravaged by Typhoon Morakot. In June 2010, Hsu and her colleagues had to walk to the project as many roads were severely compromised by the 2009 tropical storm. She was killed in a traffic accident when returning home after her first day on the job.
Yunlung Bridge on Provincial Highway No. 14 is significant for its construction and place in Taiwan history. As the only gateway to Nantou County’s Lushan hot springs, the present bridge is now in its second reincarnation. Previously it was the Suuku Iron Bridge built during the Japanese colonial period (1895-1945).
The structure played a critical role in the 1930 anti-Japanese rebellion— also known as the 1930 Wushe Incident—staged by local aboriginal leader Mona Rudao and the Mahebo tribe. The present-day bridge was built in 1985 and derived its name from an anti-Japanese fighter. (YHC-JSM)
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