TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — After ten days of repairing work, the landslide-damaged Xizhi interchange on National Freeway No. 1 in New Taipei City will reopen on Sunday (Nov. 13).

In a press release, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) Freeway Bureau wrote that as of 2:30 p.m. on Saturday (Nov. 12), construction for the H-shaped steel beams used to stabilize roadside hills has been completed. Nearby road surfaces were also nearly finished.

The bureau estimated that traffic in the Xizhi interchange area will return to normal by 6 a.m. on Sunday.

Minister Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材), who visited the construction site accompanied by Legislator Tsai Shih-ying (蔡適應), thanked the Freeway Bureau and construction workers for their tireless efforts and non-stop work since the landslide occurred on Nov. 1. He credited them for helping restore traffic in the shortest amount of time.

Wang also thanked residents living in the Xizhi and Keelung areas for their patience.

According to an earlier report, the slope that subsided onto the freeway on Nov. 1 was about 30 meters high and 100 meters long. The disaster occurred after northern Taiwan saw days of torrential rain.

Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (in white helmet) visits the construction site. (Freeway Bureau photo)