By Wu Liang-yi, Wu jen-chieh and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporters,
with staff writer and CNA
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday inaugurated the Danjiang Bridge across the Tamsui River in New Taipei City, saying that the structure would be an architectural icon and traffic artery for Taiwan. Feted as a major engineering achievement, the Danjiang Bridge is 920m long, 211m tall at the top of its pylon, and is the longest single-pylon asymmetric cable-stayed bridge in the world, the government’s Web site for the structure said. It was designed by late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid.
An aerial view of Danjiang Bridge in New Taipei City is pictured yesterday.
Photo: CNA
The structure, with a maximum deck of 70m, accommodates road and light rail traffic, and affords a 200m navigation channel for boats, it said. Speaking at a news conference held near the bridge, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) said that the bridge would be a national landmark and tourism attraction, and boost the region’s communications.
The Tourism Administration and its New Taipei City counterpart are working together to develop the tourism economy revolving around the bridge, he said. Chen presided over a motorcade featuring electric police motorbikes, patrol vehicles and classic cars across the bridge in a ceremony marking the structure’s commissioning. Separately, the New Taipei City Police Department said officers issued the bridge’s first-ever traffic ticket after a motorbike driver was caught racing across the span even before its grand opening. The 24-year-old driver surnamed Dan (單), driving a bike with a 250cc engine, entered the bridge’s ramp 2 for northbound traffic in the city’s Bali District (八里), refusing commands to stop, it said. Police intercepted the man at the off-ramp and cited him for refusing to pull over, causing noise pollution by means other than muffler removal, illegal modifications to exhaust pipes and driving a lightweight motor bike on a highway, the department said. The man’s license was suspended, his vehicle confiscated and he was fined NT$61,800, it said. Investigators are considering charging him with deliberate reckless driving, as he is suspected of pulling the stunt for notoriety, the department said. In related news, the Highway Bureau said that officials have installed state-of-the-art sensors on the bridge to monitor structural integrity, wind forces and stress on its cables in real time. Should readings exceed safe values, the sensors would alert the bridge control center of a potential safety incident to enable the rapid implementation of traffic controls and safety measures, it said. Pedestrians should not touch the sensors as they use the bridge’s pedestrian walkway, the bureau said.