Collapse bridge's safety 'bugs'
By Dong Zhen |
July 18, 2011, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A BRIDGE across the Qiantang River in Zhejiang Province, part of which collapsed early on Friday, had "safety bugs," the head of the provincial transport watchdog said at the weekend.
Chen Wei, director of the Zhejiang Province transport bureau, said the collapse of a section of the Qiantang River No. 3 bridge reflected safety "issues and bugs" in the structure but the exact cause of the collapse was still being investigated.
"We need to make further investigations to find out if the collapse was an accident or the result of mounting problems," Chen said.
Work has begun to clear the site and enable normal operations on the river overpass which usually handles around 80,000 vehicles a day.
The bridge has a history of major renovations since it opened in 1997 and has long been the subject of rumors that it may be structurally unsafe.
However, Chen told reporters that the bridge had passed quality tests before it opened.
The online community, meanwhile, began to expose a history of concern about the bridge.
Posts dating back to 2007 warned that the Qiantang River No. 3 Bridge "is under critical condition" and claimed that Zhejiang provincial government vehicles never used it and that provincial authorities had listed it as unsafe. The poster also said that the builder of another two bridges which had collapsed in 2007 was also involved in the Qiantang Bridge project.
The provincial authorities have so far not responded to the claims. But the construction company referred to, the Hunan Road and Bridge Construction Group, has said it was only in charge of completing the main structure of the bridge, and not the ramp section that had collapsed.
An under-construction bridge in Fenghuang County, Hunan Province, collapsed on August 15, 2007, killing 64 people and injuring 22 others. And part of the Jiujiang Bridge, in Guangdong Province, broke and fell into the river on June 15 the same year after a sand-carrying barge collided with it, leaving nine people dead. Both bridges were built by the Hunan company.
Some Hangzhou residents said they had long worried about safety on the Qiantang Bridge. Their fears were sparked after the chief and deputy chief of the Qiantang Bridge project were removed from their posts in 2004 over bribery allegations. And in 2005 and 2009, the bridge was closed for lengthy periods for renovation to fix safety problems.
The bridge was originally designed to carry cargo trucks but they were soon banned after opening. Despite the ban, trucks were still seen using the bridge, according to Hangzhou residents.
The bridge's management company said that a monitoring system to report safety risks and catch illegal trucks had not been fully installed and it was still being tested some 10 months after the program had been launched.
Chen Wei, director of the Zhejiang Province transport bureau, said the collapse of a section of the Qiantang River No. 3 bridge reflected safety "issues and bugs" in the structure but the exact cause of the collapse was still being investigated.
"We need to make further investigations to find out if the collapse was an accident or the result of mounting problems," Chen said.
Work has begun to clear the site and enable normal operations on the river overpass which usually handles around 80,000 vehicles a day.
The bridge has a history of major renovations since it opened in 1997 and has long been the subject of rumors that it may be structurally unsafe.
However, Chen told reporters that the bridge had passed quality tests before it opened.
The online community, meanwhile, began to expose a history of concern about the bridge.
Posts dating back to 2007 warned that the Qiantang River No. 3 Bridge "is under critical condition" and claimed that Zhejiang provincial government vehicles never used it and that provincial authorities had listed it as unsafe. The poster also said that the builder of another two bridges which had collapsed in 2007 was also involved in the Qiantang Bridge project.
The provincial authorities have so far not responded to the claims. But the construction company referred to, the Hunan Road and Bridge Construction Group, has said it was only in charge of completing the main structure of the bridge, and not the ramp section that had collapsed.
An under-construction bridge in Fenghuang County, Hunan Province, collapsed on August 15, 2007, killing 64 people and injuring 22 others. And part of the Jiujiang Bridge, in Guangdong Province, broke and fell into the river on June 15 the same year after a sand-carrying barge collided with it, leaving nine people dead. Both bridges were built by the Hunan company.
Some Hangzhou residents said they had long worried about safety on the Qiantang Bridge. Their fears were sparked after the chief and deputy chief of the Qiantang Bridge project were removed from their posts in 2004 over bribery allegations. And in 2005 and 2009, the bridge was closed for lengthy periods for renovation to fix safety problems.
The bridge was originally designed to carry cargo trucks but they were soon banned after opening. Despite the ban, trucks were still seen using the bridge, according to Hangzhou residents.
The bridge's management company said that a monitoring system to report safety risks and catch illegal trucks had not been fully installed and it was still being tested some 10 months after the program had been launched.
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