Rainfall blamed in fatal collapse of new highway
By Bob Yang |
July 9, 2012, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
RAINFALL was blamed for a highway collapse that killed two people in southwest China's Yunnan Province, local government officials said over the weekend after an investigation.
A 65-meter-long mountainous section on the 132.6-kilometer highway linking Yuanyang and Luchun counties collapsed last Monday, just two months after it opened.
A van carrying four passengers dropped into a valley over 1,000 meters deep along with the collapsed section. Two were killed and the others were injured, the traffic and transportation administration of the province said.
"A rare 65 millimeters of rain hit the area in short time that eroded the foundation of the highway to trigger the collapse," Zhang Changsheng, spokesman of the administration said.
Zhang said investigators so far had found no design or construction problems on the collapsed section. The mountains are composed of loose and soft soils and landslides happen frequently, he said.
Despite measures taken to stabilize the foundation during the construction, the "rare" heavy rainfall still brought about the accident, he added.
The highway, costing 4.22 billion yuan (US$665 million) is one of the most expensive projects done by the province. It was opened on April 27.
A 65-meter-long mountainous section on the 132.6-kilometer highway linking Yuanyang and Luchun counties collapsed last Monday, just two months after it opened.
A van carrying four passengers dropped into a valley over 1,000 meters deep along with the collapsed section. Two were killed and the others were injured, the traffic and transportation administration of the province said.
"A rare 65 millimeters of rain hit the area in short time that eroded the foundation of the highway to trigger the collapse," Zhang Changsheng, spokesman of the administration said.
Zhang said investigators so far had found no design or construction problems on the collapsed section. The mountains are composed of loose and soft soils and landslides happen frequently, he said.
Despite measures taken to stabilize the foundation during the construction, the "rare" heavy rainfall still brought about the accident, he added.
The highway, costing 4.22 billion yuan (US$665 million) is one of the most expensive projects done by the province. It was opened on April 27.
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