The Xiluo Bridge () is a

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, connecting Xiluo in

Yunlin County Yunlin is a Counties of Taiwan, county in Regions of Taiwan, western Taiwan. Yunlin County borders the Taiwan Strait to the west, Nantou County to the east, Changhua County to the north at the Zhuoshui River, and Chiayi County to the south at th ...

and Xizhou in

Changhua County Changhua (Wade-Giles: ''Chang¹-hua⁴'') is a Taiwanese County (Taiwan), county that is the smallest on the Geography of Taiwan, main island of Taiwan by area, and the fourth smallest in the country. With a total population of 1.24 million, Chan ...

crossing over Zhuoshui River.

History

Empire of Japan

On 24 March 1936, the local people of the area set up a committee to construct a bridge over the Zhuoshui River. They pledged construction effort to the

Japanese government The Government of Japan is the central government of Japan. It consists of legislative, executive and judiciary branches and functions under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan. Japan is a unitary state, containing forty- ...

and work began in October 1937. As of March 1940, 32 piers had been completed. However, construction was suspended after the outbreak of

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

against the United States on 7 December 1941. The Japanese government then moved the materials for the bridge to

Hainan Hainan is an island provinces of China, province and the southernmost province of China. It consists of the eponymous Hainan Island and various smaller islands in the South China Sea under the province's administration. The name literally mean ...

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Republic of China

After the handover of Taiwan from Japan to the

in 1945, the Xiluo Bridge Reconstruction Committee was established in 1948. On 26 January 1950, personnel from

Taiwan Provincial Government Taiwan Provincial Government is the nominal government of Taiwan Province in the Republic of China. Since 2018, its functions have been transferred to the National Development Council (Taiwan), National Development Council and other ministries ...

legislators A legislator, or lawmaker, is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people, but they can be appointed, or hereditary. Legislatures may be supra-natio ...

, engineers of Economic Cooperation Administration, Council for United States (US) Aids conducted a site survey. In 1951, the

US Government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, execut ...

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.

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.

References