Road between Taroko gate, Tianxiang closed over barrier lake concerns

Taipei, Oct. 17 (CNA) Local authorities closed off the section of Provincial Highway No. 8 between the entrance to Taroko National Park and Tianxiang in Hualien at 1:30 p.m. Friday and evacuated tourists, citing concerns that a roadside barrier lake could overflow or collapse as early as 5:00 p.m.

The dam and lake are located near the 175.5 kilometer mark of the Central Cross-Island Highway, known as Provincial Highway No. 8, outside Jin Heng Tunnel, according to the Highway Bureau's Eastern Region Branch Office.

The location is about 950 meters away from Swallow Grotto Trail (燕子口步道), the office said.

Construction workers discovered the barrier lake at around noon Friday, and preliminary measurements showed that the top of the dam was higher than the road surface at the west entrance of the tunnel, the office said.

The water level in the lake has been rising at a rate of about one meter per hour and is currently about 10 meters below the road surface, it said.

It is estimated that if the water continues to rise, it could eventually overflow onto the road, prompting the road closure and evacuation, the office said.

The lake is about 100 meters long, 30 to 40 meters wide and approximately 25 meters deep, according to Chen Pao-kuang (陳寶匡), who heads the Buluowan Station of Taroko National Park Administration.

The water could overflow onto the road as early as 5 p.m, Chen said.

Huang Chun-tse (黃群策), director-general of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency's Hualien Office, said that the Highway Bureau sent an excavator to the site to remove the accumulated debris, but officials are concerned that the work may not keep pace with the rising water level.

The nearest village, Fushih in Xiulin Township, is not expected to be affected, while a downstream power plant has been told to shut its water intake, and residents have been warned to stay away from the riverbed, he added.