Native name 大甲溪 Length 124 km Basin area 1,244 km² Mouth Taiwan Strait Bridges Dongshi Bridge | River mouth Taiwan Strait Discharge 31 m³/s Source Nanhu Mountain Country Taiwan | |
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Main source Nanhu Mountain
3,637 metres (11,932 ft) Basin size 1,235.73 square kilometres (477.12 sq mi) | ||
Dajia River (Chinese: 大甲溪; pinyin: Dàjiǎ Xī; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tāi-kah-khoe; literally: "big shell river") is a river in north-central Taiwan. It flows through Taichung City for 124 km. The sources of the Dajia are: Hsuehshan and Nanhu Mountain in the Central Mountain Range. The Dajia River flows through the Taichung City districts of Heping, Xinshe, Dongshi, Shigang, Fengyuan, Houli, Shengang, Waipu, Dajia, Qingshui, and Da'an before emptying into the Taiwan Strait.
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Map of Taiwan, Taichung City, Qingshui District, %E5%A4%A7%E7%94%B2%E6%BA%AA
The Deji Reservoir (德基水庫; Déjī Shuǐkù; "virtuous foundation reservoir"), formed by Techi Dam, is a 592-hectare reservoir in Dajia District. The reservoir provides municipal water, generates hydroelectric power, is used for recreation and prevents flooding. Techi and a cascade of five other dams on the Dajia produce up to 1,100 megawatts of hydroelectric power and generate more than 2.4 billion KWh per year. The other five dams in sequence from top hill are Qingshan Dam, Kukuan Dam, Tienlun Dam, Ma'an Dam and Shihgang Dam.
Taiwan's Central Cross-Island Highway runs along the Dajia River from Heping to Dongshih. The Taichung Beltway begins in Fongyuan and follows the Dajia through into Cingshuei.
Incidents
The Dajia experiences frequent earthflows during typhoons and heavy rain, damaging homes and breaking up roads, sometimes permanently. In September 2008, rains from Typhoon Sinlaku resulted in storm-swollen waters which washed away supports for a section of Houfeng Bridge (which links Houli Township and Fengyuan City), leaving six people dead. In June 2010, the bridge finally reopened to vehicular traffic after over NT$1.4 billion of reconstruction work.