Damaged portion of Sanchong elevated highway to fully reopen Wednesday

Taipei, Sept. 3 (CNA) A Taipei-bound lane on a section of Provincial Highway No. 1 in New Taipei's Sanchong District will reopen at 6 a.m. Wednesday, following repairs stemming from an accident involving a steel beam on Aug. 20.

Repairs to the damaged outer lane of the elevated highway near its approach to Zhongxiao Bridge -- which were originally expected to take two months -- have been completed ahead of schedule, New Taipei Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜) said during a visit to the site on Tuesday.

The road damage occurred on the morning of Aug. 20, when a large steel building girder tipped off a flatbed trailer as the vehicle was traveling on the highway overpass above Zhongan Street.

The steel girder broke through the guardrail and damaged parts of the highway when it fell. Although it did not hit the ground beneath the overpass, debris hit two vehicles that were parked below but did not cause any injuries.

Following the accident, the overpass was temporarily closed to traffic heading toward Zhongxiao Bridge to Taipei. One of the two affected lanes reopened to traffic later that day after obstacles were removed.