Taiwan road contract faces delays

The 38.8km improvement project for Taiwan’s Suhua Highway now looks to be delayed until 2019. The opening of the route is being delayed by a combination of factors including landslides and archeological discoveries. The improvement works include upgrades to a number of key bridges and mountain tunnels like sections from Suao to Dongao, Nanao to Heping and Heping to Daqingshui. The project is costing US$1.42 billion. The project was originally scheduled to be completed in 2017. The delays involve relocation of archeological relics at Hanben and delay in starting the 20km section from Nanao to Heping. In addition, the 9.1km section between Hezhong and Daqingshui will also be delayed. However, the 9.7km section between Suao and Dongao will be completed as scheduled in March 2017 or April 2017.