The Hsuehshan Tunnel is to gain international visibility as a documentary on the construction of Asia's longest tunnel is scheduled to be aired on the Discovery Channel on Aug. 27.
A pre-release press conference will be held in Taipei on Tuesday, Government Spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (
"The Hsuehshan Tunnel is regarded as the most difficult construction project by the Encyclopedia Britannica. So the documentary is a kind of testament to Taiwan's achievements in high-technology," Cheng said.
Fifteen years in the making, the tunnel, linking Taipei and Yilan County, opened on June 16. It is ranked as the world's fourth-longest tunnel.
"Lots of engineers pushed to speed up the construction 400 to 500 meters under the surface of the earth without rest, regardless of the political uproar in recent years, fully demonstrating the `spirit of Taiwan,'" Cheng said. "It is the accumulation of little dribs and drabs in the `spirit of Taiwan' that has made the country achieve progress all the time."
Cheng said the documentary, to be aired at 9pm, would introduce all aspects of the construction and help people understand the construction by presenting the facts and figures in an interesting way.
"The No. 1 shaft of the tunnel is 512 meters deep, which is higher than the building of Taipei 101. The total volume of excavated earth and stone was 5.090 million cubic meters, which is enough to build two Egyptian pyramids," the spokesman said.
The massive project began with a feasibility study in 1988. Construction finally began in July 1991. During the 15 years it took to drill 12.9km through a mountain, the ground collapsed 98 times, underground water inundated the tunnel 36 times, tunnel boring machines were trapped inside 26 times and 25 workers lost their lives.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
At least 35 people were killed and dozens more injured when a man plowed his car into pedestrians exercising around a sports center in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai on Monday night. Footage showing bodies lying on the pavement appeared on social media in the hours after the crash, but had vanished by early Tuesday morning, and local police reported only “injuries.” It took officials nearly 24 hours to reveal that dozens had died — in one of the country’s deadliest incidents in years. China heavily monitors social media platforms, where it is common for words and topics deemed
Typhoon Usagi yesterday had weakened into a tropical storm, but a land warning issued by the Central Weather Administration (CWA) was still in effect in four areas in southern Taiwan. As of 5pm yesterday, Tropical Storm Usagi was over waters 120km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the southernmost tip of Taiwan proper, and was moving north at 9kph, CWA data showed. The storm was expected to veer northeast later yesterday. It had maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126kph, the data showed. The CWA urged residents of Kaohsiung, Pingtung County, Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) to remain alert to
RSS