A newly built bridge in China’s southwestern Sichuan province collapsed just months after opening following a series of warnings about cracks and shifting ground nearby. The 758-meter-long Hongqi Bridge, part of a national highway linking China’s interior to Tibet, was closed to traffic on Monday after police in the city of Maerkang noticed cracks forming on slopes and roads near the site. Authorities said terrain on a nearby mountain had begun to shift, prompting the closure. By Tuesday, the situation had deteriorated. Landslides tore through the area, triggering the collapse of the bridge’s approach and roadbed, according to a statement from the local government. No injuries or deaths were reported, though the collapse is a major embarrassment for Sichuan Road & Bridge Group, the state-backed contractor that celebrated the project’s completion in a promotional video earlier this year. The Hongqi Bridge was part of Beijing’s ongoing push to expand infrastructure into China’s mountainous western regions, a program that has long raised safety concerns due to unstable terrain and rushed construction timelines. Authorities are investigating the collapse.
Read it at China Daily
