Accident bridge builder known
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, August 26, 2012
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| A cross-river bridge approach near Wangjiadian, Harbin, in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, caved in Friday morning. Four trucks fell down with the bridge. Three people died, five injured on the spot. [HBTV.com.cn] |
Harbin government yesterday denied reports that it could not trace contractors involved in building a bridge that collapsed on Friday, nine months after it opened, killing three people.
Details of the builder of ramps that gave way on the Yangmingtan Bridge have been submitted to the accident investigation team, Huang Yusheng, secretary general of the Harbin City government, told a press conference.
The company's name will be made public when results are announced, added Huang.
Earlier, it was reported that Harbin authorities in charge of urban construction claimed the constructor could not be traced because the team brought together for the bridge construction had been disbanded once the project was completed.
Huang said overloaded vehicles were a factor in the accident which saw four trucks hurtle 30 meters to the ground, when a 120-meter ramp tilted and fell.
Three of the four trucks were heavy-duty vehicles with cargoes of lime and together weighed more than 400 tons, said the official.
A seven-member team including bridge designers and other experts is in Harbin to investigate the cause of the accident, Huang said.
Five people were injured in the accident. One was in a serious condition yesterday while the remainder were in a stable condition, said officials.
Reports have raised suspicions that shoddy construction and poor supervision played a part in the accident.
The National Business Daily reported yesterday that analysis of photographs of the scene of the accident showed the broken pieces of the ramp were filled with pebbles, wood and even bits of sacking.
And a construction worker on the scene reportedly said the steel bars used in the project were too weak.
The newspaper also said the junctions between box girders and support arms of the ramp were uneven.
Design flaw
Some experts said they suspected a design flaw was to blame for the accident.
The four trucks were on the section about 3.5 kilometers from the main body of the bridge when the accident happened. The main body of the Yangmingtan Bridge and other ramps have reopened.
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.
Some reports had said that the China Railway No. 1 Group Co Ltd was the company that built the bridge.
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