Mining for ophiolite and unlicensed logging for hardwood timber such as shoghu has affected the Chingshui River, an upstream tributary of the Hsiukuluan, creating an alluvium of gravel that has collected along the river bed, raising it almost level with the bridges across its middle reaches.
秀姑巒溪上游的清水溪因為開採蛇紋石礦，牛樟、烏心石等原生闊葉林又被大量盜伐，影響水土保持，砂石沿著河水滔滔而下，堆積河床，中游一帶河床如今幾乎都與橋面同高。