Xiluo Bridge

Coordinates: 23°48′46.3″N 120°27′39.3″E / 23.812861°N 120.460917°E / 23.812861; 120.460917

Xiluo Bridge

The Xiluo Bridge (Chinese: 西螺大橋; pinyin: Xīluó Dàqiáo) is a bridge connecting Xiluo Township in Yunlin County and Xizhou Township in Changhua County in Taiwan crossing over Zhuoshui River.^[1]

History

On 24 March 1936, the local people of the area set up a committee to construct a bridge over the Zhuoshui River. They pledged to the Japanese government and construction began on October 1937. As of March 1940, 32 piers had been completed. However, construction was suspended shortly after that due to the outbreak of Pearl Harbor attack on 7 December 1941 in United States. The Japanese government then moved the materials for the bridge to Hainan, Republic of China.

After the handover of Taiwan from Japan to the Republic of China in 1945, the Xiluo Bridge Reconstruction Committee was established in 1948. On 26 January 1950, personnel from Taiwan Provincial Government, legislators, engineers of Economic Cooperation Administration, Council for United States (US) Aids conducted a site survey. In 1951, the US Government spent US$1.3 million for the steel material and the Taiwan Provincial Government also provided NT$6 million for the project. The Taiwan Machinery Manufacturing Corporation and the Mechanical Engineering Department of the Ministry of Economic Affairs were in charge of the bridge erection and painting projects respectively. The construction of the bridge resumed on 28 May 1952 and completed on 25 December the same year. The inauguration ceremony of the bridge was held on 24 January 1953.^[2]

Technical detail

The bridge spans over a length of 1,939.03 meters with 31 arches.

Transportation

The bridge is accessible by bus from Douliu Station of Taiwan Railways Administration.^[3]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Siluo Bridge.

• Transportation in Taiwan

References