Xiluo Bridge

　　The Zhuoshui River is an important dividing river in central Taiwan. Due to its wide expanse, even 16th-century European maps of Taiwan mistakenly depicted the island as being split into northern and southern parts. For a long time, people on both sides of the river had to rely on bamboo rafts and other means of transport to cross. When the river swelled during floods, transportation between the two areas was severely disrupted. This led to ongoing discussions about constructing a bridge, and eventually, Xiluo Bridge came into being.

　　Spanning the lower reaches of the Zhuoshui River, Xiluo Bridge is a truss iron bridge that connects Xiluo Township in Yunlin County at one end and Xizhou Township in Changhua County at the other. Construction began in 1937 (the 12th year of the Showa era in Japan), with the main work during the Japanese colonial period focusing on building the bridge piers. However, construction was halted due to the diversion of steel for wartime use, leaving the structure incomplete. After the Nationalist government relocated to Taiwan, the project resumed in 1952 with U.S. aid, officially starting on May 29 and completing on December 25 of the same year. The bridge was officially opened to traffic on January 28, 1953. At the time of its completion, it was the second-longest bridge in the world after the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, USA, and the longest in the Far East. The bridge also featured a sugarcane railway running alongside, creating a rare spectacle of rail and road traffic operating together.

　　Xiluo Bridge Reason to visit: One of Taiwan’s largest bridges