Original plans called for work to wrap up in 1998, but the route was poorly prospected and the fractured geology of the Mt. Snow range made the digging exceptionally arduous. The project experienced delay after delay, including 36 floods, 25 cave-ins, and the destruction of a NT $ 1 billion tunnel boring machine.
原本預定八十七年通車的北宜高，由於地質探勘的粗糙，使得路線必須貫穿地質破碎的雪山山脈，工程備極艱鉅，四度延期，期間歷經三十六次大小規模湧水、二十五次受困，一座造價十億元的大型鑽掘機報銷，工程也一直籠罩在「挖斷雪山水脈」的謠傳中。