Archaeological finds delay Suhua Highway project

2015/07/27

Discovery of a Neolithic cultural layer at Hanben archaeological site in Yilan County, eastern Taiwan, is expected to further postpone Suhua Highway improvement project works.

New findings include elaborately decorated bone sculptures and pottery figurines dating from 1,800 years ago, as well as upright stone slabs believed to have served ceremonial purposes in religious worship.

“The new layer was buried by landslide under the first Bronze Age layer discovered in 2012,” said Liu Yi-chang, a research fellow at Institute of History and Philology at Taipei City-based Academia Sinica. “Given the depth of up to 10 meters, it could take around six years to examine the entire site.”

Construction on the eastern Taiwan highway project was suspended for three years to facilitate excavation of the first layer, which contains over 100 human remains and dwellings aged 1,200 to 1,600 years.

The Directorate General of Highways under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said it expects at least a six-month delay in the project. “We will mobilize all resources to assist Academia Sinica in properly excavating the site and keep delays to a minimum.”

Expected to shorten travel between Suao and Hualien by 45 minutes, the NT$49.2 billion (US$1.57 billion) project began in 2011 after Typhoon Megi severely damaged the 118-kilometer highway the year before. It was originally set for inauguration in 2018.

The 38.4-kilometer undertaking comprises eight tunnels, 13 bridges and several new road embankments in three sections from Suao to Dongao, Nanao to Heping and Heping to Daqingshui. Dongyue Tunnel, a two-way two-lane structure measuring nearly 213 meters in length, was completed Oct. 29, 2014.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=232976&ctNode=413)