The irrigation area under the jurisdiction of Hsinchu Management Office, Irrigation Agency, Ministry of Agriculture, is about 6,200 hectares in size. The irrigated area of Zhudong Canal is 800 hectares, accounting for about 13% of the total. It provides both household use water (Yuanxi Water Purification Plant of the Taiwan Water Corporation) and industrial water (Baoshan Reservoir supplies water to Hsinchu Science Park). In addition, Guishan Hydro Power Station in the Ruanqiao area located upstream near Ruanqiao Village in Zhudong utilizes the gap between canals. It is a mini power station that can supply electricity to the Zhudong area, a unique case of using water sources for non-agricultural irrigation.
Zhudong Canal is about 21km in length. It diverts water from Shangping River, an upstream tributary of Touqian River. Starting from the water intake of Shangping barrage weir it passes through Ruanqiao Village and enters Tunnel 1 on the canal. There are 13 large and small tunnels, 6 water channel bridges, 3 siphon works, open channels and culverts and other structures of different types as water flows through the northeastern foothills of Zhudong Hills; passing Yuandongzi, Ziyuanzhuang, Shanggongguan, Dawo, Caiwoyuan and Youchewo, ending about 1km south of Sanchongpu.
Water from Shangping River is continuously diverted through the Zhudong area and into Baoshan Reservoir No. 1, creating beautiful canal scenery, fertile farmland and a world-famous technological miracle.
Zhudong Canal was built in 1926 by Mr. Lin Chunxiu, a member of the local gentry in Erchongpu, Zhudong. In collaboration with local people, Japanese technicians were hired to start construction. Its main purpose was to divert water from the Shangping River and utilize Ruanqiao Power Station built earlier by the Japanese (originally built in 1919, it was a small hydropower station that used the flow gap between irrigation canals to generate electricity, utilizing two Francis-type horizontal axis hydro generators with a capacity of 100KW. It was used in the Second World War and after the war became defunct due to mechanical parts failure. It was restored in 1992 and is currently renovated as a tourist and leisure area) and connected to the canal as a leading channel. Construction work took more than two years and it was completed and connected in 1928, with the water irrigating the Zhudong irrigation area, covering an area of 530 hectares and benefiting an area of 800 hectares.
After 67 years and the transformation of Taiwan's economic environment, from agriculture to industry to high-tech industry, the original design and planning function of the leading channel tunnel no longer met the needs of society, and its structure suffered long-term erosion and tunnel slope insufficient which may cause siltation.
The original tunnel section is a horseshoe-shaped design with a tunnel radius of 0.8~0.835m. The side walls and inverts are concrete structures. The top arch has three types: concrete brickwork, full concrete and unlined brickwork according to geological conditions. After years of erosion and environmental change, the Zhudong Canal leading channel tunnel structure gradually started to display signs of flaking, deformation and collapse. As a result of continuous erosion and stratum squeezing, the canal’s maximum water delivery capacity remains only about 1.28CMS and water stoppages are also caused by geological instability.