coLumNS
Forget London bridge
Wait a Minute
he new decade began tragically in Bridge and Structural Engineering, told China
T
China with the collapse of a newly Daily just before one of the worst bridge-related
constructed overpass to the new accidents in China’s history: the 2007 collapse of
Kunming international airport in the just-completed Jiantuo River bridge, Hunan
Yunnan Province. The accident province, which killed 36 people.
killed seven workers and injured 34. The central Indeed, the frequency of bridge-related inci-
government has slated Kunming as a logistics en- dences seems to have increased considerably since
trepot between China and Southeast Asia, and be- 2007. In August 2009 a road and railway overpass
tween China’s east coast and its interior, with its under construction in Guiyang, Guizhou collapsed,
airport positioned to be the fourth largest hub in killing several workers; a bridge built in the 1970’s
the country. collapsed in Heilongjiang in June of the same
The speed at which China is developing its road year when an overloaded truck attempted cross-
Bill Dodson is a principal of Trend-
transport infrastructure is truly admirable. China ing, taking several other vehicles along with it into sAsia Ltd., a systemic-risks adviso-
ry based in Shanghai. He is author
currently has 3.5 million km (2.2 million miles) of the ravine below. Also in the autumn of last year
of China Inside Out: Revelations
road. More than half of that is a major bridge near Tianjin port and Revolutions (John Wiley &
Sons) due out later this year. He
low grade, according to Reu- collapsed when five overloaded
publishes the This is China! blog,
ters. China had only 53,000 km trucks fell off a ramp leading to and can be reached at wdodson@
trendsasia.asia.
of expressways in 2007. The the bridge. The accident closed
country is intent on building down the Tianjin section of a vi-
80,000 additional kilometers of tal expressway that linked Tian-
expressway over the next ten jin to Shanxi Province and to the
years, surpassing the length of rest of northern China.
the continental United States The design times of bridges
interstate highway network. Of have collapsed, Tao Hongyi, Chi-
course, the development of the na director for the bridge builder
logistics infrastructure will have Dorman Long Technology, told
monumental affects on the ease the BBC. A lack of adequately
and declining cost of shipping trained workers makes it difficult
goods throughout the country, for crews to carry out engineer-
and to neighboring countries. ing specifications, as well. “Part
However, China’s bridges of the problem,” Tao continued,
seem to be falling down - or falling apart - almost “is China’s desire to build infrastructure projects
as quickly as they put them up. The Henan Road quickly, often to maintain economic growth.” He
bridge, a busy throughway that spans the Suzhou added that politicians tend to be in control of
Creek in Shanghai, developed cracks in mid-2009 projects, not engineers. Of course, corruption and
as long as four meters in length, with chunks fall- collusion sometimes play into the making of ca-
China's
ing off the structure shortly after renovaton. Work- tastrophes, too. The Ministry of Communications
ers from the company that built the bridge used reported in 2007 that some 6,300 bridges across bridges seem
garbage - including plastic foam and leather bags the country were dangerous because of serious
to be falling
- mixed with glue to fill the yawning cracks. The damage to “important structural components”, the
workers repairing the newly-built 120 meter Han- China Daily reported.
apart almost
zhongmen Bridge in Nanjing were less creative Though China’s transport infrastructure devel-
as quickly as
than the Suzhou Creek crew during December opment frenzy has proven to make the transport
2009, and simply poured superglue into cracks that of goods and people more efficient than ever be-
they are
were large enough to fit one’s hand through. fore, it’s dependability is also proving to be less put up
The country has about 500,000 bridges, many predictable - and perhaps more risky - than compa-
of which were built 20 or more years ago, Xiao nies have planned on.
Rucheng, secretary-general of the Institute of
www.supplychains.com MARCH/APRIL 2010 13
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