In order to increase river flood safety and create a high-quality waterfront environment, the 9th River Management Office conducted the Mugua River Chuying No.1 and Hualong revetment levee section river environment improvement project, which recently won the MOEA's Public Construction Outstanding Award and was nominated for the Executive Yuan's Public Construction Golden Quality Award. WRA Director-General Lai Chien-Hsin visited the construction site on the 7th and listened to the 9th River Management Office Director Hsieh Ming-Chan's briefing on the project's details and characteristics. Director-General Lai affirmed and commended the collective efforts of the 9th River Management Office and contractor Dong Cheng Construction to vie for the Executive Yuan's Public Construction Golden Quality Award.
Besides commending the efforts of those present, Director-General Lai Chien-Hsin also praised the various aspects of the project including conducting ecological assessments throughout the lifecycle of the project; applying soft engineering techniques to the revetment to decrease the use of concrete; using boulders sourced locally to conserve energy and reduce carbon emissions; planning and design to ensure earthwork balance at the construction site; using drones to facilitate technological supervision; implementing the innovative smart construction site warning system as well as flood prevention, disease prevention and heat prevention occupational safety and friendly construction site measures. Director-General Lai also reminded the 9th River Management Office to take waterfront safety and the environment into consideration while improving the river environment, as well as engage in further communication with the local communities. The construction projects must be environmentally friendly and he also instructed the colleagues to take maintenance and management into consideration after the project's completion.
The 9th River Management Office Director Hsieh Ming-Chan commented that the project was designed and supervised by the office, focusing on the theme of river flood safety to connect the flood protection roads while conducting overall environmental reconstruction. From planning, design, outsourcing, to construction, numerous local briefing sessions and workshops were held to realize administrative transparency, information transparency and public engagement. Having just received the MOEA's Public Construction Outstanding Award, the 9th River Management Office won the Executive Yuan's Public Construction Golden Quality Award for 2 years in a row. For this project, the office will collaborate with the contractors to vie for the next Public Construction Golden Quality Award.
The 9th River Management Office further explained that the power generation plaza and channels have been adopted by the Hydrotech Research Institute, NTU as a micro hydropower R&D and testing ground, as well as the venue for hosting the national micro hydropower design contest this year. In addition, Formosa firethorns measuring 4m in height were discovered during ecological assessment, hence the construction project was designed around them to preserve the trees and conservation efforts were implemented in conjunction with the Hualien Forest District Office. Currently, the public and private sectors including Jian Township Office, Gancheng Community Development Association and Chuying Mountain Culture and Industry Exchange Association have expressed willingness to adopt the site after completion. In the future, the beautiful waterfront environment will be maintained through Public-Private Partnership (PPP).