On March 18th, a bridge in Shandong collapsed under the weight of a passing truck, resulting in one person being injured.
A viral video shows a red truck crossing the bridge when suddenly a loud “boom” is heard from the rear, and the bridge surface collapses into the river below. Subsequent footage confirmed that after a portion of the bridge collapsed, the river underneath was exposed, attracting the attention of many villagers in the area.
According to reports from “Litchi News,” the incident occurred at the Wangzhuang Bridge in Tianshili Road, Zhutian Town, Fei County, Linyi City, Shandong Province. Following the incident, the road section has been temporarily closed off.
On that day, Fei County reported that around 1 p.m. on the 18th, a driver named Li, driving a heavy-duty semi-trailer from out of town, had an accident on the Tianshili Road at the K37+480 section, causing damage to the Wangzhuang Bridge and resulting in minor injuries to one person.
The report stated that upon preliminary investigation, the vehicle involved exhibited severe overloading behavior. Currently, the specific cause of the accident is under investigation.
The incident has sparked online attention, with many netizens questioning the lack of reinforcement steel visible. Others have commented, “The bridge collapse was not accidental; it was the result of overloading and lax supervision. The bridge can only bear up to 30 tons, and was made of brick. Yet vehicles weighing over 100 tons were speeding over it. It was an old prefabricated panel bridge that collapsed due to overloading.”
Bridge collapses in China have been occurring frequently. Since last year, there have been four incidents.
On June 24, 2025, the Huozi River Bridge in Sandu County, Guizhou collapsed, fortunately, the driver of the leading heavy truck managed to stop in time, averting casualties.
On August 22, 2025, the Yellow River Bridge under construction in Jianzha County, Qinghai collapsed, causing 16 workers on the bridge to fall into the Yellow River and die.
On November 11, 2025, the Hongqi Bridge in Maoxian City, Aba Prefecture, Sichuan collapsed. The bridge had only been opened to traffic for less than a year by the time of the incident.
On February 2, 2026, the construction of the Yuegang Bridge in Xiangshui Lianshen Line, Yancheng, Jiangsu, witnessed a tragedy as a segment of the arched beam structure collapsed, resulting in the death of five individuals.