3 killed in bridge ramp collapse
By Yang Jian |
August 25, 2012, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA'S work safety watchdog said the build quality of a bridge in northeast China must be in question after one of its ramps collapsed yesterday morning, less than a year after construction finished.
Four trucks were sent hurtling 30 meters to the ground, killing three people and injuring five others, when a 120-meter ramp at the multimillion-dollar Yangmingtan Bridge in Harbin tilted and crashed to the ground.
Three heavy trucks loaded with lime and another with feedstuff were on the section about 3.5 kilometers from the main body of the bridge when the accident happened, said Sun Qingde, deputy head of Harbin's construction committee.
"The bridge must have some problems as it collapsed (less than) a year after being constructed," Huang Yi, spokesman for the State Administration of Work Safety, told a press conference.
However, the authority was still investigating what was behind the accident and would publish its results as soon as it had any.
Truck passenger Liu Guodong, who suffered minor injuries, said: "I was dozing off in the truck when suddenly the truck rolled to the ground. It was so terrifying."
Three of the five people injured had serious problems which required surgery, doctors told Xinhua news agency.
They are being treated in the Harbin No. 1 People's Hospital.
Film aired by China Central Television showed wrecked trucks upside down with blood and broken glass all around.
By 1:30pm, apart from the collapsed ramp, the main body of the Yangmingtan Bridge and other ramps had been reopened to traffic, police said.
The trucks which crashed might have been overloaded, causing the collapse, Huang Yusheng, secretary general of the Harbin City government, told another press conference later yesterday.
He gave no further details but added: "It is a very complicated case and we cannot make a conclusion so fast."
He said the city government would "learn a lesson" and would be launching an overall inspection on all bridges across the city.
The Yangmingtan Bridge opened to traffic in November last year.
Spanning the Songhua River in Harbin, the eight-lane bridge is said to be the longest, at 15.42 kilometers, in northeast China.
Local media said it cost 1.88 billion yuan (US$296 million) to build. Construction took just 18 months, a record for the province, according to previous reports.
During construction last year, five workers were seriously injured when they fell 30 meters to the ground after a beam loosened and fell.
Built by the China Railway No. 1 Group Co Ltd, it is the third bridge to have been erected across the Songhua River in the past four years.
Yesterday's collapse was the sixth involving a major bridge in China since July last year.
Shoddy construction and over-loading was said to be the cause of the previous incidents.
Four trucks were sent hurtling 30 meters to the ground, killing three people and injuring five others, when a 120-meter ramp at the multimillion-dollar Yangmingtan Bridge in Harbin tilted and crashed to the ground.
Three heavy trucks loaded with lime and another with feedstuff were on the section about 3.5 kilometers from the main body of the bridge when the accident happened, said Sun Qingde, deputy head of Harbin's construction committee.
"The bridge must have some problems as it collapsed (less than) a year after being constructed," Huang Yi, spokesman for the State Administration of Work Safety, told a press conference.
However, the authority was still investigating what was behind the accident and would publish its results as soon as it had any.
Truck passenger Liu Guodong, who suffered minor injuries, said: "I was dozing off in the truck when suddenly the truck rolled to the ground. It was so terrifying."
Three of the five people injured had serious problems which required surgery, doctors told Xinhua news agency.
They are being treated in the Harbin No. 1 People's Hospital.
Film aired by China Central Television showed wrecked trucks upside down with blood and broken glass all around.
By 1:30pm, apart from the collapsed ramp, the main body of the Yangmingtan Bridge and other ramps had been reopened to traffic, police said.
The trucks which crashed might have been overloaded, causing the collapse, Huang Yusheng, secretary general of the Harbin City government, told another press conference later yesterday.
He gave no further details but added: "It is a very complicated case and we cannot make a conclusion so fast."
He said the city government would "learn a lesson" and would be launching an overall inspection on all bridges across the city.
The Yangmingtan Bridge opened to traffic in November last year.
Spanning the Songhua River in Harbin, the eight-lane bridge is said to be the longest, at 15.42 kilometers, in northeast China.
Local media said it cost 1.88 billion yuan (US$296 million) to build. Construction took just 18 months, a record for the province, according to previous reports.
During construction last year, five workers were seriously injured when they fell 30 meters to the ground after a beam loosened and fell.
Built by the China Railway No. 1 Group Co Ltd, it is the third bridge to have been erected across the Songhua River in the past four years.
Yesterday's collapse was the sixth involving a major bridge in China since July last year.
Shoddy construction and over-loading was said to be the cause of the previous incidents.
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