A section of the recently constructed Hongqi Bridge in southwest China’s Sichuan province collapsed on Tuesday.
The bridge collapse incident occurred along the national highway that connects the heart of the country to the Tibet region.
No casualties have been reported yet.
The 758-metre-long bridge was closed on Monday after cracks began to appear on nearby roads. Shifts were also visible in the terrain of a nearby mountain, Reuters quoted the local government as saying.
The condition of the mountain worsened on Tuesday, leading to the collapse of the bridge.
Construction of the bridge was completed earlier this year, according to contractor social media posts accessed by Reuters.
The sudden collapse of new construction at the local Shuangjiangkou Hydroelectric Power Plant has raised concerns about long-term construction standards, particularly in China’s western provinces, News Week reported.
According to highsbridges.com, the Hongqi Bridge is part of the reconstruction of the local road G317 from the reservoir that was created behind the massive Shuangjiangkou Dam.
The Daduhe River has many dams in its waters, but the earthen Shuangjiangkou Dam is in a league of its own with a world record height of 312 meters.
In August, at least 12 workers were killed and four others are missing when a railway bridge under construction collapsed across a large river.
Aerial images from the official Xinhua news agency show a large section missing from the bridge’s curved aquamarine arch. The bent part of the bridge hangs down into the Yellow River.
The incident occurred when a steel cable snapped around 3am. Sixteen workers were on the bridge at the time of the incident.
Images published in state media show a partially built bridge with its middle section missing and two giant scaffolding and several cranes next to it.
In December last year, 13 people went missing after a cave-in at a major railway construction site in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. There were no reports of survivors.
