Recently, villagers in a southern county in Sichuan Province discovered that the screws of a newly repaired bridge could easily fall off with a slight kick, and underneath the screws, there were no screw holes, raising concerns about the quality of the bridge. After the villagers posted a video online, it attracted attention.
The video footage shows that there are three screws under the bridge railing, and with a gentle kick from the villager, they fell off, revealing a solid steel plate underneath instead of screw holes.
According to the villager interviewed by Lang Chao News on February 25th, during the Chinese New Year holiday, he accidentally kicked a screw of the guardrail on the Xiao family bridge, only to find out that the screw head was actually pasted on. After he posted the video online, the local authorities contacted him and explained that there were anchorages underneath and the bridge structure had no quality issues, and the screws above were just for decoration purposes.
Public reports indicate that the Xiao family bridge is an important passage in the county, connecting to Nanchong and Chengdu in southern China. The bridge had just completed a dangerous bridge renovation project at the end of last year, with the project owner being the Second Highway Management Bureau of the Transportation Bureau in the county.
In response to the incident, the Second Highway Management Bureau of the county stated to Lang Chao News that the bridge deck is all reinforced concrete, and there are screw connections under the railing base. Due to the dense reinforcement below and some deformation during the welding process, the screws couldn’t protrude. For aesthetic purposes, a few screw caps were welded on top, serving as decoration.
The responsible person also mentioned that a bridge expert had been consulted and confirmed that the bridge is safe without hidden dangers.
Netizens criticized the situation, expressing that it was too audacious to have such practices in vital public projects. Some comments included, “If this is true, then this negligence is premeditated murder,” and “Which expert confirmed this? It’s the first time I’ve heard that screws are purely decorative.”
Mainland Jimo News also commented, stating, “The ‘easily dislodged’ decorative screws are not a fig leaf for bridge safety. The construction standards of this dangerous bridge renovation project should be thoroughly examined. It’s alarming how quickly the project owner claimed the bridge was safe after the villagers raised concerns. Which experts conducted the inspection? Did they know these screws were purely decorative at the time?”
The article emphasized that the project owner cannot unilaterally dictate the safety of the bridge. The relevant local authorities should intervene, conduct an investigation, and provide an authoritative conclusion to address public concerns.