Also, inaccessibility of the route to mechanical digging equipment meant that most of the work was done by pick and shovel. The fact that the highway was hacked out of the hills by hand further added to its international renown.
更由於無法使用大型機械開拓挖掘，大部分工程全是由人力一鍬一鏟，一斧一鑿完成，也使得這條純手工打造的中橫公路，馳名中外。