Taipei City Government

The construction of the Feitsui Reservoir Raw Water Pipeline reached an important milestone on September 29 with the completion of the Feitsui tunnel section. The feat is made possible thanks to the hard work of the construction team.
 
Taipei Water Department noted that in light of global climate changes, the increased frequency of powerful storms and typhoons have a huge impact on the turbidity of Taipei’s water sources. Such was the case in the aftermath of Typhoon Soudelor in 2015, where massive landslides led to record-level turbidity along Xindian River, causing significant interruption to local water supply.
 
The objective of the Feitsui Reservoir Raw Water Pipe Project is to lower risks for continued water supply. The entire tunnel covers a distance of 2.8 kilometers with inner section diameter reaching 4.5 meters. The anticipated amount of daily water intake with the pipe will reach roughly 2.7 million tons.
 
The tunnel comprises horseshoe-shaped reinforced concrete lining structure. In the interest of maintaining safety and lowering environmental impact, instead of the speedier “drill and blast” method, the construction team adopted the New Australian Tunnel Method to allow for a more stabled and measured progress which also minimizes the impact to the surrounding.
 
Since constructions began in July 15, 2019, tunneling work continues around the clock. The slated completion date is 2023. The project not only enhances the safety of water supply to the 6 million people residing in Greater Taipei, it also expects to boost the water use ratio of New Taipei City to 57% by adding Shulin, Yingge, and Sanxia districts to the reservoir’s network by coordinating with the Water Resources Agency’s Banxin District Water Supply Improvement Project Phase 2 constructions.