2006.08.26 Yi-Lan half day trip 2

世界上最長雙孔公路隧道建造工程 --- 雪山隧道

出隧道後的蘭陽平原

下面文章出自國工局 http://egip.taneeb.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=19198&ctNode=2825

With Taiwanese engineers’ determination and commitment, the Syueshan tunnel, currently the fourth longest in the world and highest tunnel standard in Taiwan, finally opened to the public at 1 p.m. on June 16 after 15-year construction. To honor the heroes who sacrificed their lives during the construction, a memorial monument is erected at Shihding service area. The opening ceremony was full of reminiscences and thankfulness of the tunnel heroes as their families, Premier Su Tseng-Chang and Minister of MOTC Kuo Yao-Chi uncovered the monument. After ceremony, they soon drive through the tunnel which symbolizes the opening of the tunnel.

In the light of the regional balance and faster development of eastern Taiwan, National Expressway No.5, linking Taipei and Yilan, became a prime government policy. From 1988, the feasibility study, geological evaluation and environment impact assessment, planning and design had been completed one after another. In July, 1991, the construction began. In 2001, Toucheng-Suao section added to the expressway. The expressway is about 55km in length with total cost of NT 90.6 billion dollars. Over the past few years, some sections of the expressway opened to the public respectively in terms of the various stages of completion. Namely, Nangang-Shihding section, January 2000, Shihding-Pinglin section, March 2005, Toucheng-Suao section, January 2006. Today, the 55 km National Expressway No.5, from Nankang to Suao, not only can offer travelers high quality road service but also greatly reduce the traveling time between Taipei and Yilan to 30 minutes.

The Syueshan tunnel of National Expressway No.5 is 12.9-km long tunnel which penetrates through Syueshan Mountain Range. Geological conditions along the tunnel alignment are very complicated. During the construction, many accidents occurred by highly fractured rock formation and huge reserve of groundwater. There were 42 collapses in pilot tunnel and 48 collapses in main tunnels, resulting in much delay to the projected progress. The most serious one is the TBM badly buried in a major collapse with a huge groundwater surge of 750 liters per second. In order to solve the problem, 7 advisory board meetings were held during that time. However, under the great effort from all concerned, these seemingly insurmountable difficulties were overcome.

The Syueshan tunnel is of a twin-tube structure where each main tube accommodates two traffic lanes, and one pilot tunnel serves as geological surveying during construction, maintenance and emergency escape and evacuation during operation of the expressway. 3 sets of twin vertical ventilation shafts are set up inside the tunnel for better ventilation. An emergency passageway for travelers is set up per 350 m on the left side of the tunnel. A vehicle emergency passageway is set up per 1400 m for maintenance and evacuation. Fire hydrant boxes per 50 m and emergency phone booth per 175 m. Besides, with the cutting-edge facilities such as tunnel broadcasting, FM and mobile phone receptions, traffic control system and surveillance cameras, and all of these make the Syueshan tunnel a world-class tunnel. For safety, drivers must follow strict tunnel driving rules ─ speed limit 70 k per hour, no changing lanes and keep 50 m distance from the vehicle ahead, etc. Drivers who violate the rules will be fined severely.

Also, to bring the huge achievements of the Syueshan tunnel to life, a museum at the Toucheng interchange, south portal of Syueshan tunnel, will exhibit all the collection of the tunnel construction information such as TBM, construction photos, and movies, etc. In the future, in order to raise the awareness of long tunnel safety, visitors can practice using firefighting equipment in Shihding service area.

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