Historic bridge damaged by truck
Print Edition
WAIBAIDU Bridge, a 109-year-old structure located at the northern end of the Bund, was damaged by a truck early yesterday.
A steel truss on the eastern side of the bridge was bent, and part of the steel railings separating vehicle lanes from sidewalks was knocked down in the accident at about 5am.
The front of the truck was severely damaged and it was towed away. Traffic on the bridge was affected for about an hour and a half. The driver had minor injuries, police said.
After examinations, experts from Shanghai Research Institute of Building Sciences said that the northern struts of the bridge were structurally stable. But they advised that no vehicles weighing over 10 tons should use the bridge, except for buses, while repairs were carried out.
A detailed reparation plan is expected very soon, the road administration bureau said.
Police in Hongkou District are handling the case because the accident took place on the northern part of the bridge that is located in this district; the southern part lies in Huangpu District.
Police said investigation was still under way. No other vehicle was involved in the accident.
Li Hui, from Shanghai traffic police, said all trucks were banned from the bridge because it was a major tourist spot, but that traffic signs on the bridge weren’t clear.
From the Hongkou side, there were signs banning trucks, bikes and vehicles weighing over 20 tons, but on the Huangpu side there was only a sign banning vehicles weighing over 20 tons.
Along the Bund, there were signs allowing trucks to use the road ahead between 8pm and 7am the next day in both directions about 100 meters from the bridge, but it was not clear if those signs also included the bridge.
Lu Yuqin, head of the local construction company Qinshun that owns the truck, told Shanghai Radio that the driver in the accident was driving on a route not approved by the company.
Lu said the driver hit the steel structure of the bridge after trying to avoid a forklift truck parked on the bridge.
“We will definitely fire the driver for taking the wrong route, and we will compensate for the damage to the bridge,” he said.
Waibaidu Bridge was originally a wooden structure over Suzhou Creek when first built in 1856.
In 1908, it became the nation’s largest steel bridge. It underwent an overhaul in 2008.
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