National Freeway No. 1 Widening Project from Wugu to Zhongli
Project Location
New Taipei City and Taoyuan,
Northern Taiwan
Client
Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau (TANFB)
Services Period
From April 2009
to November 2015
Type of Services
Engineering Design and
Construction Supervision
Project Overview
In order to resolve traffic congestion problems on the northern part of National Freeway No. 1, two new viaducts were built along the sides of the freeway between Taipei and neighboring Taoyuan for approximately 40 kilometers.
The project presented tremendous challenges owing to its attributes of having limited space for construction, passing by a geologically sensitive area, having to maintain traffic on the freeway, and implementing a complicated design.
New and innovative construction methods were thus introduced to Taiwan for the first time, and CECI played a crucial role as a bridge between the Client and Contractors for fast-tracking the project’s design and construction activities in parallel with each other so that the entire viaduct could be opened up to traffic in just 4 years.
CECI carried out design and construction supervision services for the northern and middle segments of the project having a continuous length of 28 kilometers and undertook a design emphasizing speed, value and innovation without sacrificing quality and safety. Chief among these design solutions were.
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Adopting environmentally protective measures including tree transplantation, non-disturbance zones, preservation of habitats, animal escape ways, bat nests, etc.
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Employing special construction methods, including the horizontal rotation method for the first time in Taiwan, to shorten construction time and avoid disrupting the existing traffic.
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Creating an “F type” double-deck structure in which both decks use the same supporting columns for a length of 2.857 kilometers to avoid a geologically sensitive area.
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Designing overpasses for the viaduct to merge into the double-deck structure without impeding the freeway below including a large span structure with a center span having a length of 216 meters, the longest of its kind in Taiwan.
Upon its culmination, the “Wu-Yang Viaduct” has been touted for its immediate impact and success in restoring smooth and fast flowing traffic to this section of National Freeway No. 1, and was subsequently awarded as Design Category winner of the prestigious 2015 Global Road Achievement Awards organized by the International Road Federation (IRF).