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Gaoping River, previously known as Xiadanshui River, runs between Kaohsiung and Pingtung. The river’s expansive width necessitated the construction of a railway bridge for trains to cross. The swift and treacherous river current posed great challenges for the engineering. However, under the design and planning of Iida Toyoji, an engineer of the Taiwan Governor General’s Office, the bridge was completed in three years on December 20, 1913 (the 2nd year of Emperor Taisho). The bridge is a single-track railway bridge measuring 1,526 meters in length, consisting of 23 piers and 24 apertures. The initial design was a simple steel beam and truss frame symmetrically supported.The concrete piers were 7.55 meters wide and the trusses were 4.5 meters in height. At the time, it was the longest bridge in Taiwan and Eastern Asia. In 1962, the bridge was damaged in a typhoon and later repaired by the Taiwan Railway Administration with locally produced steel. The original trusses were replaced with Warren trusses. The repairs were completed in 1964. After the introduction of electric locomotives, a new bridge was built across the Kaoping River using pre-stressed concrete. The old bridge was decommissioned in 1992.