Dashu Old Railroad Bridge

　　The construction of the Old Railway Bridge Wetlands Park started in 2002 in a total area of 114.5 hectares between the Gaoping Bridge and the Old Railway Bridge. There're 13 farm ponds inside the park.

　　These 13 farm ponds can be divided into two systems, A and B. The pond A1, B1, B2, and B3 feature silting detention and aeration, they are in a smaller but deeper size. As to the pond from A2 to A5, and the pond from B4 to B6, they feature water purification, so they are designed with freshwater waterweed in the form of wetlands. The pond A6 and B7 take ecological conservation as the main feature that aims to restore the nearly extinct Pheasant-tailed Jacana; therefore, these ponds are designed with floating plants in the form of a deep-water farm pond in the wetlands.
　　After the joint effort made by the Old Railway Bridge Association and the Kaohsiung Wild Bird Society, the wastewater problem has been solved, so fish and wild animals are provided with a good habitat. Until March 2007, there was a total of 130 birds species found by observation, also 17 species to 4 genres of insects, and 211 species of plants found. It has shown the good results brought about by ecological restoration, and the park has become the best location for outdoor teaching and ecotourism.

The Brief History of the Old Railway Bridge
　　The old Gaoping Railway Bridge was previously called Xiadanshui River Railway Bridge, which was built at the beginning of 1911. The construction was supervised by the Japanese Engineer Lida Toyozi and completed at the end of 1913 (Taisho 2). It was a single-track railway with a total length of 1,526 meters and a total width of 7.6 meters with 24 sections of steel trusses that made it Asia's longest railway bridge.
In 1987, after the new Gaoping Railway Bridge was completed, the Old Railway Bridge became part of history; and, it was designated by the Ministry of the Interior as a Grade II Historic Site, Taiwan's only one railway bridge that is listed as the Grade II Historic Site.

The Features of the Old Railway Bridge Wetlands Park
　　Taking the industrial and household wastewater as the only water resources that sustains the ecosystem is the biggest feature of the park. Transforming the smelly and disgusting wastewater into useful water resource can reduce pollution to the Gaoping River; it's the best model example of environmental protection. The beautiful park awakens people's awareness of their concern about the land and makes them cherish the land resources to jointly protect the Old Railway Bridge Wetland Park and make it the best habitat for both birds and insects.
The efforts from volunteers of the Old Railway Bridge Association for these many years, they've insisted on removing grass and weeds by hand; they never utilized pesticides or herbicides to help speed up restoration. Except for the Coffee Square, there's no waste bin facilitated in all areas of the park, visitors are requested to bring their waste home; it's a new demonstration of environmental protection.

Tourism Guide to the Miniature Kingdom of Dashu Township
To help Dashu Township boost the local development by fulfilling the villagers' long-term expectation of becoming a "Fruit Themed Tourism Township ". The Old Railway Bridge Association has built a "Miniature Kingdom" on the island inside the ecological pond at the B2 area of the park as the "The Miniature Tourism Guide to Dashu Township”.
So far, the miniature kingdom has some scenic spots including the cable-stayed bridge, Zhuang Family Old Mansion, Fo Guang Shan and the Caogong Canal Five-Hole Water Gate, etc. There will be subsidies for building the Old Railway Bridge, the Sanhe Tile Kiln, the Zhuliao Water Station, the Dashu River Barrage, the Charcoal Kiln, the Xuanhuashan Confucian Temple, etc. to prosper local economy.