Mataian River gets temporary bridgeON TIME: The contractor, which also built New Taipei City’s Danjiang Bridge, also began work on a new permanent bridge on Wednesday according to scheduleBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterA temporary steel bridge over the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in Hualien County opened for traffic yesterday after the original bridge was destroyed by flooding on Sept. 23 last year. Torrential rain brought by the outer rainbands of Typhoon Ragasa led to the collapse of a barrier lake along the Mataian River, killing 18 people and causing massive infrastructure damage, including the bridge over the river. Vehicles drive on a temporary steel bridge over the Mataian River in Hualien County after it opened to traffic yesterday. Photo: Hua Meng-ching, Taipei TimesThe temporary bridge, which features one through lane and one slow lane in each direction, opened for traffic at 10am, one month earlier than initially scheduled. The riverbed access path, which was built before the temporary steel bridge, would be removed within one week for the Water Resources Agency to carry out dredging work, Lin said.

Source: Taipei Times January 01, 2026 17:14 UTC