The morning of November 17, engineers and veterans of the Highway Bureau attended the book launch for Map Reading: Highways and Forest Roads of Taipingshan. During the event, stories were shared of how, 37 years ago, the Taipingshan Highway was designed, constructed, improved, and “fostered” by the Highway Bureau. A group of about 11 young highway engineers spent three years to reconstruct the forest road into a highway that would meet the standards of a Provincial Highway. Through 11 years of repair and maintenance, the road’s disaster resilience was greatly enhanced. What was originally accessible only by heavy-duty 10-wheeled trucks became a scenic boulevard that could be safely traveled by tour buses. From that point, the forest tourism industry in Taipingshan really took off; in recent years, it’s become a hot destination for Taiwanese tourists. Speaking of Taipingshan’s now-booming tourism, the Highway Bureau employees who invested 14 years of their youth in this mountainous area expressed feelings of being lucky, and proud, to be a part of it.
The book Map Reading: Highways and Forest Roads of Taipingshan was written by Golden Tripod-winning author Prof. Lee Jui-tsung, at the behest of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency. With expertise in collecting historical archives, documenting oral narratives from veteran members, and clarifying chronologies, Prof. Lee gives readers access to little-known information about the forest road, and stories and images from the history of logging. The book uses many old photos of reconstruction on Taipingshan Highway to convey how the Highway Bureau turned the highway into the foundation of tourism in Taipingshan. Some of these photos also show how the highway engineers, who contributed 14 years of their lives to the project, worked hard and designed carefully on construction, supervision, repair, and maintenance of the highway. They persisted even during periods when materials were scarce, even during those winter months at high altitudes when it seemed the very air was frozen and just walking could make you gasp for breath. Through photos, we can compare the past and present of the area. The Pangu Bridge – the only bridge on Taipingshan Highway, with a special curved half-side design – is 60 meters in length and was completed in 1991. It was named, and an inscription calligraphed by, Eastern Region Branch Office Director Chang Chin-ju. The Pangu Bridge was designed by Highway Bureau Director General Chang Chia-te, who remembers it like it was yesterday despite having reached the age of 90 this year. Engineer Lin Chuan-sheng recalled doing his all to protect a giant tree that stood at a switchback on the Taipingshan Highway – and that tree is still there, so now some people call it the “Lin Chuan-sheng Tree”. What was once a muddy, steep forest road has now become a convenient, asphalt highway. The route was modified by the Highway Bureau; the decision to comply with Provincial Highway standards was made by the Highway Bureau; and funding was raised by the Highway Bureau. Without the Highway Bureau’s efforts, the forest road would never have become the scenic boulevard it is today.
Deputy Chief Engineer Liu Shih-tung, who attended the book launch on behalf of the Highway Bureau, noted that the Bureau was established on August 1, 1946, and is now in its 77th year of operations, with 5,443.581 kilometers of Provincial Highways under its jurisdiction. There are currently 97 Provincial Highways (including branch routes); of these, 15 are expressways and 82 are highways. As Liu noted, every road developed by the Highway Bureau could tell its own story. Roads opened by the Highway Bureau also contribute to the flourishing tourism industry. Provincial Highway 8 (also known as the Central Cross-Island Highway) is the most well-known, helping to bring the natural landscapes of Taroko National Park to an international audience. Taipingshan Highway, though, still remains little known. It was 35 years ago that the Highway Bureau’s Eastern Region Branch Office was commissioned to design and construct the Taipingshan Highway, following the Provincial Highway standard. It took three years to complete the initial construction, then another 11 years of “foster care”. This highway, reconstructed from a forest road, now gets 600,000 visitors a year; at NT$100 per person in admission fees, that means the highway takes in NT$60 million a year. The Taipingshan Highway is therefore a major foundation for the development of forest tourism in Taipingshan. Last but not least, the Highway Bureau hopes that everyone who comes to visit Taipingshan in the future will get a sense for the effort and thoughtfulness of those highway engineers, who invested 14 years of their lives into the project.
Unit in charge: Eastern Region Branch Office
Traffic hotline: (03) 996-2683
Person in charge: Chen Wen-chang Chen, Director, Maintenance Section