Latest  News

	Authorities deny remarks relating to fatal bridge collapse Authorities in Harbin have denied that officials had previously said no contractors could be found to take possible responsibility for Friday's fatal bridge collapse. A ramp on the multi-million-dollar bridge in Harbin, the provincial capital of Heilongjiang in northeast China, collapsed early Friday morning, causing four trucks to plunge 30 meters to the ground.
Fatal bridge collapse prompts public uproar Friday's collapse of a costly bridge in northeast China's Heilongjiang province and the subsequent loss of three lives have led residents and netizens alike to complain about shoddy construction and inadequate supervision by the government.
Bridge collapse sparks inquiry Officials in Heilongjiang Province on Friday explained that the fatal bridge collapse that killed three and injured five in the provincial capital Harbin was due to vehicle overload.
Collapse of costly NE China bridge kills three The ramp of a multimillion-dollar bridge in northeast China collapsed early Friday morning, sending four trucks falling 30 meters to the ground, killing three people and injuring five.
Construction information on NE China collapsed bridge released Authorities in northeastern Chinese city of Harbin have released the specific information about the designer, builder and supervisor of a collapsed bridge, from which four trucks plunged to the ground, killing three people and injuring five.

Accident details
	Time	5:30 am, August 24
	Place	The Yangmingtan Bridge, Harbin, NE China's Heilongjiang Province
	What happened	A ramp, about 3.5 km from the main body of the Yangmingtan Bridge, tilted to one side and crashed onto the ground
	Casualties	3 dead and 5 injured
About Yangmingtan Bridge
	Length	15.42 km
	Project cost	1.88 billion yuan ($ 296 million)
	Time to open traffic	2011 Novemer
	Construction period	18 months, only about half of the planned three years

Queries and official reactions
Queries	The detailed accident location announced by Local government. Source: Chinanews.com	Official reactions
●"There must have been serious problems. A new bridge should not have collapsed in less than a year" said Huang Yi, spokesman for the State Administration of Work Safety. ●Netizens doubted that why the construction team only took 18 months to complete a planned three-year project. ●There were claims on the Internet that officials from the Harbin municipal commission of housing and urban-rural development said the bridge construction headquarters had dissolved and no contractors could be found.		●The claims were groundless and there had never been such official remarks. ●The ramp that collapsed was under a separate viaduct construction project. It was not under the same contract as Yangmingtan Bridge. ●The government had provided relevant materials from the designer, contractor and supervisor to the investigation team. After the investigation ends, names of the designer, contractor and supervisor will be made public. ●Overloading of some vehicles could be one of the possible causes for the accident. ●Harbin government began an overhaul on bridge safety and stepped up screening for overloaded vehicles on the road.

View  Points

●Bridge collapses point to deeper hole - GT editorial

The Yangmingtan Bridge in Harbin, which was put into operation less than a year ago, collapsed yesterday. Despite the media uproar following this accident, China has seen 13 similar bridge collapses over the past five years.

It seems logical to conclude that the fast speed that is characteristic of China's construction boom has led to the increasing number of accidents on roads and bridges. But this theory shouldn't be seen as an excuse for these serious accidents.

●Chinese media digest, August 26:

The Beijing Times published a review piece on August 25 targeting Huang's allegations, saying that considering drivers often overload trucks because of high toll fares, the bridge should have been designed for heavier loads from the start.

The Global Times (Chinese edition) published an editorial urging the government to enforce stricter penalties in cases involving construction accidents. The editorial said that the shame this collapse brought on China is nothing in comparison to the pain of lives lost, as well as wasted resources and the increased distrust of government morality.

The Southern Metropolis Daily opined that providing the public with a basic sense of safety means not having to worry when crossing a bridge.

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Similar  Accidents

Time	Bridge	Location	Length	Casualties	Reasons of the accidents	Other important information
Aug 8, 2012	East Guangchang River Bridge	Fuzhou, Jiangxi Province	206m	2 died, 2 injured	still under investigation
Jul 2, 2012	a viaduct in construction	Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province	unkonwn	1 died, 3 injured	collapse in the dismantling process
Jun 18, 2012	West River-crossing Bridge of Yueya Island	Fushun, Liaoning Province	416.4m	no casualites	Irregular operation
May 13, 2012	Pingjiang Bridge	Yueyang, Hunan Province	120m	2 died and 4 missing	continuous rain storm
Jul 19, 2011	Baihe Bridge	Huairou District, Beijing	230m	No casualites	overloaded truck	The driver was detained, and the authorities urged relevant departments to enhance overloading control.
Jul 15, 2011	The Third Qiantang River Bridge	Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province	5.7km	one slightly injured	poor quality of construction and frequent overloading	Managers of related department got administrative punishment. The bridge operation company wrote inspections of the accident.
Apr 12, 2011	Kongqi River Bridge	Korla, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region	150m	no casualites	the second beam of the bridge cracked
Aug 13, 2007	Tuojiang Bridge	Fenghuang County, Hunan Province	328m	64 died, four bad injured, and 18 slightly injured	poor construction quality; blind construction speed; lackin  security supervision; official corruption	24 respondents were sent for judical judgement, 33 got punishments for violating party and political rules, and relevant companies were fined.
Jun 15, 2007	Jiujiang Bridge	Foshan, Guangdong Province	1.68km	8 died	a  vessel captain misjudged the sea route and channel indicating lights, leading the boat crashed the bridge	The captain was sentenced to six years in prison for traffic accident crime.