Hsuehshan tunnel
The Hsuehshan Tunnel ( Chinese 雪山 隧道, Pinyin Xuěshān Suìdào , Tongyong Pinyin Syuěshān Suèidào , W.-G. Hsüeh-shan Sui-tao ) or Xueshan Tunnel is an almost 13 km long motorway tunnel in Taiwan that was built between 1991 and 2006 . As part of Highway 5 Taipei - Yilan , it passes under the Xueshan mountain range in the northeast of the island.
The structure, which consists of a 12,917 m long east and a 12,942 m long west tube as well as a pilot tunnel (12,941 m), is the longest tunnel in Taiwan, the second longest road tunnel in East Asia after the Zhongnanshan tunnel in the People's Republic of China and the sixth longest road tunnel in the world (status 2017). At the same time, it is the second longest twin-tube road tunnel in the world after the Zhongnanshan Tunnel. The official opening took place on June 17, 2006 by the then Minister of Transport in the presence of Prime Minister Su Tseng-chang and three other former Prime Ministers.
The tunnel was built to improve the transport links between the mountainous Yilan County in northeastern Taiwan and neighboring Taipei County ( New Taipei since 2010 ) and to promote the development of the sparsely populated and technically remote east of the island. The tunnel construction has cut the travel time between Taipei and Yilan from more than 2 hours to around 30 minutes. Economic forecasts assumed that the tunnel would save transportation costs of US $ 450,000 per day and would significantly promote tourism in Yilan County.
The total construction cost was NT $ 90.6 billion (US $ 2.83 billion). The tunnel construction was accompanied by considerable technical difficulties (water ingress, collapses) and a total of 25 workers were killed in accidents during the construction work. A small memorial at the tunnel entrance commemorates them. 370,000 m³ of concrete and 20,000 lamps were installed in the tunnel construction.
At the time of the opening, the speed limit was 70 km / h, which was gradually increased, most recently on December 8, 2010 to 90 km / h. Speeding is punishable by heavy fines.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Shelley Shan: Tunnel opening draws eager crowds. Taipei Times, June 17, 2006, accessed October 3, 2017 .
- ^ Caroline Gluck: Asia's longest road tunnel opens. June 16, 2006, accessed October 3, 2017 .
- ↑ Shelley Shan: Tunnel a testament to persistence. June 22, 2006, accessed October 3, 2017 .
- ^ Shelley Shan: Increase in speed limit alleviates traffic: NFB. Taipei Times, accessed October 3, 2017 .
Coordinates: 24 ° 53 '38.4 " N , 121 ° 45' 32.4" E