22 dead as Chinese bridge collapses?????
Jonathan Watts in BeijingTuesday August 14, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2007/08/14/china372.jpg
Rescuers remove a victim of the bridge collapse in the central Chinese province of Hunan. Photograph: AP
At least 22 people were killed today when a newly-built bridge collapsed in central China, raising fresh concerns about safety standards amid a nationwide construction boom.Just weeks before it was scheduled to open, the 328m stone bridge over the River Tuo in central Hunan province broke apart and fell into the waters below.
More than 100 workers were removing scaffolding when the accident happened, and the death toll could rise significantly higher. According to local media, 22 people were injured and 46 are still missing.
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Most of the workers were local farmers, supplementing their incomes by labouring on the bridge, which was designed to improve transport links in Fenghuang - a popular tourist spot.In an attempt to fit in with the aesthetically attractive local community, which is famous for Miao minority houses on stilts, the bridge was built with four decorative arches.
Much of that is now rubble. "I was riding a bike with my husband and we had just passed under the bridge and were about 50 meters away when it collapsed," a witness who only gave her surname, Wu, told the Associated Press. "There was a huge amount of dust that came up and didn't clear for about 10 minutes."
Rescue efforts are continuing, with bulldozers attempting to clear the debris so that emergency teams can search for survivors.
The cause of the collapse is under investigation. According to Xinhua news agency, the 12m yuan (£800,000) project was contracted out to the state-owned Hunan Road and Bridge Construction group. The construction manager and project supervisor have been detained for questioning.
It is the second fatal accident this year involving a bridge collapse. Nine people were killed in June when a section of a bridge in Guangdong province collapsed after a cargo vessel ran into one of its pillars.
Amid a period of breakneck economic growth, local media have expressed concern that some contractors may be cutting corners in the rush to build bridges, roads and tower blocks, while local governments put too much emphasis on new projects while failing to invest properly in maintaining old structures.
According to The China Daily, the government has catergorised 6,300 bridges as dangerous because of structural damage.
Xiao Rucheng, the secretary general of China's Institute of Bridge and Structural Engineering, was quoted as saying that many of the country's new bridges were being built too quickly and were poorly designed.
Other architects said there may be more accidents now, but the main reason is that there are more projects. "China has done a good job of managing rapid construction growth," said Huang Nannan, an associate at Arup. "But there not enough attention is paid to the technical review of small and medium-sized projects."
Mr Huang said China had been building stone arch bridges for hundreds of years. "In this accident, we have lost face because modern engineers did a worse job than our ancestors."
回复: 22 dead as Chinese bridge collapses?????
sigh.....the standard itslef is good, but nobody implements the standard in real project....corruption takes over the standard,Re: 回复: 22 dead as Chinese bridge collapses?????
Post by tsungkang;715784sigh.....the standard itslef is good, but nobody implements the standard in real project....corruption takes over the standard,
This is the current China『郁闷』 『郁闷』 『郁闷』
回复: 22 dead as Chinese bridge collapses?????
AT least more than 22 people were killed ,asfor 49 people were missing. i think, most of those have been died.:-(回复: 22 dead as Chinese bridge collapses?????
:-( why...I feel very sad for this tragic~
Who can take responsibility for this ?:-@
Re: 回复: 22 dead as Chinese bridge collapses?????
Post by 安迪;715997:-( why...
I feel very sad for this tragic~
Who can take responsibility for this ?:-@
Nobody--------, as usual『郁闷』『郁闷』『郁闷』『郁闷』『郁闷』
回复: 22 dead as Chinese bridge collapses?????
CNNis broadcasting this accident right now......
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