Bridge ramp collapses in China; 3 killed (Sixth major bridge collapse since July of last year)

UPI ^ | 08/24/2012

[SeekAndFind]

HARBIN, China, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- A ramp on a 9-month-old bridge in China collapsed Friday, sending four trucks crashing to the ground 100 feet below and killing three people, authorities said.

Five people were hospitalized with injuries, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

It was at least the sixth major bridge collapse in China since July of last year. The collapses have been blamed on shoddy construction and overloading, the report said.

The bridge ramp collapsed in Harbin city, capital of Heilongjiang province. In an unrelated incident in the same province, two passenger trains collided at a railway station Thursday, injuring at least 24 people.

The ramp, joining the Yangmingtan Bridge, tilted to one side and crashed to the ground about 5:30 am, the deputy head of the Harbin city construction committee said.

Photographs showed the crashed trucks turned upside down and the collapsed ramp resting almost perpendicular to the ground.

[SeekAndFind]

Damaged vehicles lie upside-down near a collapsed section of the Yangmingtan Bridge in Harbin in northeast China’s Heilongjiang province Friday, Aug. 24, 2012. Four trucks fell off from the highway bridge collapsed in the morning, which opened to traffic in November, according to local state media.

[dfwgator]

They’ve probably already executed the engineers by now.

[InsidiousMongo]

Hey San Francisco,

Are you reading this? This foreshadows what’s to come with the ‘new’ Bay Bridge you are building with Chinese steel! Dumb SOBs.

[Little Ray]

How often does this happen in the US and Europe?

[massgopguy]

Elizabeth Warren says we should be like the Chinese!

[Little Ray]

How often does this happen in the US and Europe? Heck, how often did this happen in the USSR?

[InsidiousMongo]

“Elizabeth Warren says we should be like the Chinese!”

I thought she wanted us to be like Indians, just like her! =P

[353FMG]

Just wait until shoddy workmanship shows up on the design and construction of that bullet train.

That’s when the SHTF.

[PGR88]

In China they call these “Tofu Construction Projects”

the sad thing is, the Chinese just accept it. They haven’t known anything else.

They have an all-controlling, all-corrupt, elitist, central-planning Gov’t, where apparatchiks and cronies skim the cream off the economy.

I see the USA heading towards an American version of the same thing.

[Gay State Conservative]

I've been to China...and Hong Kong.Recently.In Hong Kong one gets the distinct sense that newer building,roads,bridges,etc are of very high quality,at least as good as anything you'll find here or in Europe.You absolutely don't get the same sense with Chinese buildings and roads,even the newer ones.

[wmap]

Bullet Train beware Calif. The Chinese are building a Bay Bridge in Oakland, opening in 2013. Using steel not make in USA and the massive cable, key sections of the tower and deck were all made in China. Let us hope that the inspectors overseeing the construction are up to the task.

[Flag_This]

"They’ve probably already executed the engineers by now."

I bet your right. I also bet it was the components that failed to perform to spec, not the design.

[Born to Conserve]

I’ve seen concrete subs who shouldn’t be allowed to play with legos. Usually this sort of collapse is the result of absence of reinforcing in the “reinforced concrete”. Without a complete network of steel, concrete is about as strong as chalk.

[353FMG]

The inspectors will probably be Chinese with personal loyalty to the steel supplier.

[ColdOne]

Same China this regime is so proud of?

[Strategerist]

I’ve seen concrete subs who shouldn’t be allowed to play with legos. Usually this sort of collapse is the result of absence of reinforcing in the “reinforced concrete”. Without a complete network of steel, concrete is about as strong as chalk

All of this stuff is going to be loads of fun in earthquakes - we've already seen the effect in the Sichuan quake.

[vetvetdoug]

Several bridges, overpasses and ramps are being built in Texas by Chinese contractors. This should open a few eyes, especially after the sheet rock/ wall board scandal.

[WKUHilltopper]

Don’t forget—your fighting for you (LOL) government allows them to build them here. Think of that next time you drive over one. They love you in government and are always worried with your safety.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/us-bridges-roads-built-chinese-firms-14594513

[jayrunner]

A Big Shoutout to the Golden State numbskulls relected Gov. Moonbeam a second time. He was mayor of Oakland and contracted with the Chinese to build the bridge. He’s also the reason Charlie Manson is still alive, because he appointed Rose Bird as CA Chief Justice.

C Justice Bird believed Manson deserved a chance to rectify his life. I’m so glad i don’t live there any longer.