Hydraulic Engineering Office

The flood season is coming, and the maintenance of hydraulic structures should not be overlooked!

This article will introduce the Huangkang River Pressure Culvert, a very important underpass culvert structure in Beitou area. It contains the tunneling section excavated with the TBM, the two-hole rectangular culvert section, and the four-hole culvert section.

In hydraulic engineering, the “culvert” often mentioned in hydraulic structures is the stormwater sewerage for drainage. There are two major types of rain culverts: gravity drainage culvert and pressure culvert. The Huangkang River Pressure Culvert is an underpass pressure culvert channeling water with the pressure from the water level difference from the upper stream to the lower stream. 

To ensure the effective operation of the Huangkang River Pressure Culvert, the Hydraulic Engineering Office (HEO) started the dredging work at the “tunneling section” of the culvert, with a total of 950m starting from the start at Zhongyong No. 2 Park to the Dayeh No. 2 launch shaft. Currently, bulldozers, small excavators, and sludge containers are transported to the tunneling section through the mechanical cleaning holes and manholes at 0k+950 launch shaft, and dredging towards the upper stream has started.

As the elevation of the whole pressure culvert is below the low-tide level, there is always water inside the pressure culvert due to the tidal effect, and the suspended matters and bottom matters contained in the Keelung River or the mud and sand at the flood diversion weir at the upstream Huanggang River flow into and deposit easily inside the culvert. As the sludge accumulates over the years, the culvert cross section reduces to affect the flood drainage performance and safety of the culvert. HEO thus checks and dredges the culvert periodically to ensure its flood drainage capability.

Introduction of Huangkang River Pressure Culvert

1.With a total of about 3,408m long, HEP completed the Huangkang River Pressure Culvert in October 2009.

2.Like the babysitter role of the Huangkang River, the culvert drains water from the main river course to maintain the 50-year flood control standard of the river.

3.Zhongyong No.2 Park is the flood diversion entry of the pressure culvert. With a back siphonage design, the culvert drains water beneath Dayeh Road to the agricultural area in the west of Dayeh Road before penetrating Dadu Road in the south. Then, water runs beneath Zhoumei Expressway before flowing into the Keelung River along the southwest of Guandu Embankment at the intersection of Zhoumei Expressway and Guandu Embankment. At the exit there is a flood gate.r