New highway deemed death trap
Print Edition
A NEW highway, which was built at a cost of nearly 11 billion yuan (US$1.80 billion), was declared unsafe, ironically by one of its constructors, who said problems like road subsidence and tunnel cracks may turn the highway into a death trap.
The 125-kilometer highway that links Kelan and Linxian counties in north China’s Shanxi Province is a major portion of the provincial highway network.
Construction work started in January 2011, and the project was scheduled to be completed in 18 months. But the highway administration set up by the provincial transportation department, failed to pay the constructors on time, Qiao Fucai, one of the constructors, told the Legal Weekly newspaper.
The project was at a standstill for nearly a year until the administration managed to raise cash. But the long delay affected the schedule with workers compromising on quality to meet the deadline, Qiao said.
The viaduct pier, which usually takes eight months to be fully concretized, was done in a rush in just two months, Qiao said.
Moreover, the highway did not open to traffic in October last year as planned and only opened on October 16 this year. Officials from the highway administration put the blame on red tape, but Legal Weekly reported the delay was because of repair work on the jerry-built earthwork. “It is virtually endemic that workers skimp on construction materials,” Qiao said.
Qiao added that some of the constructors had recklessly put in low bids to win the contract and then used inferior materials to cut losses.
Qiao tested the quality of the slope protection, which are usually built with stones and cements to protect roadbeds from being flooded and damaged during torrential rain. But when he checked the stones fell off. He said scraps were used to fill the gaps instead of concrete.
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