西螺大橋 - Xiluo Bridge
橫跨濁水溪的西螺大橋，是昔日台灣西部縱貫公路的交通要道。西元1912年，北斗溪與虎尾溪的溪水匯集到西螺溪（濁水溪），同時帶來大量泥沙，造成淤積，冬季時河水枯竭，溪面可通行；到了夏季時，水位大漲，竹筏成為南北重要工具。而當雨季來臨時，河水暴漲，竹筏無法載客，常造成南北交通阻隔與安全顧慮，因此南北岸地方人士，於昭和11年(1936年)成立「濁水溪人道橋架設完成同盟會」，向日本總督府陳情建造大橋，而大橋工程也在隔年（1937年）十月動工，直到昭和15年(1940年)時，三十二座橋墩完成；不過此時二戰爆發，珍珠港戰事發生，日人遂將橋樑材料移至海南島建立碼頭，建橋工程因此停頓。
戰後，當時的西螺鎮長李應鏜與地方仕紳，再成立「西螺大橋續建委員會」續向各單位陳情，終於在民國40年(西元1951年)獲得美國金援，並配合台灣省政府工程配合款，大橋工程終於在民國41年(西元1952年)5月28日再度動工，同年12月25日完工。民國42年（1953年）1月28日，舉辦西螺大橋通車典禮，當時是僅次於美國舊金山的金門大橋，是全世界第二，遠東第一長公路大橋。
In former days the Xiluo Bridge, which is stretched across Zhuo Shui river, was part of the vital trafficway in the south of Taiwan connecting the northern and the southern part of the island. In 1912 the waters of Beidou and Huwei brooks converged to Xiluo river (Zhuo Shui river), carrying large quantity of silt and creating deposits. In the wintertime the river water dried up and the river became just a stream, in summer the water level rose again and bamboo rafts became important means of transport to cross the river. When rainy season started and the river water rose suddenly and sharply, bamboo rafts were unable to carry passengers, so communications between one bank and the other were usually cut off for security reasons. Consequently in 1936 some local public figures established “Zhuo Shui river Vassals’ League to erect successfully the bridge”. They made arrangements with the Japanese governor and gave him a full account of building the bridge. So the engineering started and in October 1937 the constuction work began. 312 piers were built during the following three years. But the World War II started and due to the attack on Pearl Harbour the Japanese removed the bridge ridge to bring it to Hainan Island (in South China) to build a dock, so the engineering had to stop. After the war, the mayor of Xiluo, Mr Li Yingtag, and a local gentleman founded the “Commission to continue building Xiluo bridge” and they kept giving detailed accounts to the governor. Finally in 1951 they got a financial boost from the USA, so an engineering partnership with the Taiwanese government started, and on the 28th of May 1952 the work to build the bridge started again and on Christmas of the same year it ended. The Xiluo Bridge was opened to the traffic on the 28th of January 1953. At the time Xiluo bridge was the second greatest bridge in the world after Golden Gate bridge in San Fransisco and the first in the Far East.
