With the intention of strengthening rockfall protection on Taroko Gorge’s Swallow Grotto Trail, Taroko National Park Headquarters held the “Swallow Grotto Trail Rockfall Protection Measure Symposium” on the morning of July 5. One conclusion was that rockfall protection measures should use engineering methods that had relatively little impact on the scenery and another was that the amount of time that Swallow Grotto and Tunnel of Nine Turns trails are closed should be reduced. The park headquarters will use the decisions made at the meeting as reference when carrying out rockfall protection work.

In the symposium report Taroko National Park Headquarters pointed out that the beauty of Taroko Gorge attracts a large number of visitors from Taiwan and overseas, however, rockfall monitoring of Swallow Grotto Trail by the park HQ over the last five years has found that there is an average of 3.48 rockfalls every day, and the number of rocks falling and scope are both increasing. In the past measures adopted to protect against rockfalls have included asking visitors to wear helmets, putting up warning signs, carrying out periodic slope scraping and strengthening visitor information work, while a long-term protection measure that will have a relatively small impact on the scenery has been sought.  

To acquire an understanding of the views of various quarters regarding the rockfall protection facilities that should be used in the gorge, the park HQ enlisted volunteers to carry out a survey at the visitor center. The results showed that 56% of visitors would like a method that will preserve the original appearance of the rock faces or steel mesh to be used, that is they prefer a method that does not use structures. This was also the unanimous view of the experts who attended the symposium.

Four conclusions were reached in the symposium:

1. Reduce the time the trails in the gorge are closed.
2. If there is a need to close trails travel operators should be informed in advance by text message
3. Rockfall protection facilities in the gorge should use an engineering method that will have relatively small impact on the scenery
4. Necessary protection measures should be carried out in areas of the gorge that are relatively safe and they should be opened in a suitable way for visitors to enjoy the scenery.