Baileng River Memorial Park Introduction
Baileng Canal was established in 1928 during the Showa era (the 3rd year of Showa) initially for the irrigation of the sugarcane seedling breeding grounds of the Daan Village Seedling Farm under the Taiwan Governor-General's Office. After the restoration of Taiwan, it was changed to the Seedling Farm of the Forestry Bureau. The Japanese government began planning irrigation facilities in 1927 (the 2nd year of Showa) and received approval from the legislature for a budget of over 1.45 million Japanese yen. Construction began in December 1928 (the 3rd year of Showa) and was completed in May 1932 (the 7th year of Showa) after three years and six months of work. The total construction cost was 1.04 million yen, and water testing was completed in September, with an inauguration ceremony held on October 14. During the ceremony, the President of the Agricultural Bureau of the Taiwan Governor-General's Office, Mr. Kishi, named the Daan Village Seedling Farm’s water diversion canal “Baileng Canal.” The canal is 16.5 kilometers long and is located along the mountainside. In addition to open channels, the main structures include 22 tunnels, 14 aqueducts, and three inverted siphons, one of which measures 346 meters in length and 1.2 meters in diameter, crossing a valley—a major hydraulic engineering project. After the 921 earthquake, the canal was damaged, and the Irrigation Association constructed new water pipes nearby (in blue), creating a parallel situation of old and new. The inverted siphon pipe is designed using the principle of connecting pipes and is a green steel circular pipe climbing along the hillside; the difficulty of the construction is beyond description. The beautiful and spectacular No. 2 inverted siphon is the largest of its kind in the Far East and was selected as the 26th of the Top 100 Scenic Spots in Taiwan in 2001.
