On July 19, 2024, a high-speed highway bridge collapsed in the city of Shanluo, Shaanxi Province, China, resulting in the deaths and disappearance of 62 people. The collapsed highway had been in operation for less than 6 years. Nearly two years after the accident, the official statement from the Chinese Communist Party shocked the internet community, revealing that the construction, supervision, and acceptance parties collaborated in falsifying records.
The State Council’s Work Safety Committee Office announced on June 8 that they have exposed typical cases of fakery in the safety production field, specifically mentioning the collapse of the high-speed highway bridge in Shanluo City.
According to the announcement, the investigation found that the supervision unit, Beijing Huahong Engineering Consultation Co., Ltd., illegally approved the construction unit to deviate from the construction drawings by not lifting the tie beam as specified, and they failed to truthfully record the supervision log. The actual situation did not match the design, yet the acceptance was carried out according to the original construction drawings, and irregular signature approval was done during the retesting before completion.
The third-party testing unit, the former Shaanxi Jiaojian Expressway Engineering Testing and Inspection Co., Ltd., project leader discovered that the actual pile length of the bridge in question did not match the design, and they arbitrarily altered the pile length and original ultrasonic waveform without rectifying the issue or issuing a corrected testing report after the company found out.
Following the disaster, the supervisors and personnel responsible for the third-party testing services involved in the project were suspected of criminal activities and were subjected to coercive measures by the judicial authorities. The Shaanxi Provincial Department of Transportation imposed administrative penalties on Beijing Huahong Engineering Consultation Co., Shaanxi Jiaokong Engineering Technology Co., Ltd. (formerly Shaanxi Jiaojian Expressway Engineering Testing and Inspection Co., Ltd.), and related responsible individuals.
The announcement immediately sparked widespread public attention and became a hot topic on Weibo.
Netizens criticized, “It’s all subcontracting layers, and there are benchmarks for casualties in the main contract.” “This is not a natural disaster, it is a man-made disaster.” “The supervision unit, construction party, and third-party inspection all fabricated evidence!” “Every level of supervision failed, indicating that there are significant problems in the current design, production, supervision, and acceptance systems.”
Technology influencer “Shuangye” posted on Weibo accusing, “Supervision agreeing to deviate from the construction drawings, testing units arbitrarily altering data… conspiring to cost 62 lives! How many families? Those who falsified data and signed off on it, can they really sleep at night?”
Writer, traveler, and photographer Hu Cheng commented on his Weibo account, “Supervision, construction, inspection – all three parties collectively falsified documents, the pitiful loss of 62 lives.”
On the evening of July 19, 2024, the collapse of the Daning High-Speed No. II Bridge in Yanping Village, Zhashui County, Shanxi, resulted in 25 vehicles plunging into the river, with 38 fatalities, 24 missing persons, and only 1 fortunate survivor, causing a direct economic loss of 158 million RMB.
Under the relevant regulations of the State Council of China’s “Regulations on Reporting and Investigation Handling of Production Safety Accidents” (effective from June 1, 2007), a particularly serious accident is defined as one causing the death of 30 people or more, or 100 or more serious injuries (including acute industrial poisoning), or over 100 million RMB in direct economic losses. The incident falls under the category of a particularly serious accident.
On March 7, 2025, Xinhua News Agency reported that the investigation and assessment report of the collapse of the Daning High-Speed Shuiyang Section Bridge was released. With the approval of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervision Commission of China and the Shaanxi Provincial Committee, the Shaanxi Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision imposed strict accountability measures on the Shaanxi Provincial Department of Transportation, Shaanxi Provincial Department of Water Resources, Shanluo City Government, Zhashui County Government, and Shaanxi Transportation Holding Group Co., Ltd., as well as 43 public officials related to the issues of neglect and irresponsibility in the bridge construction, operation, and maintenance during the disaster.
Guo Pengcheng, the Head of the Engineering and Technology Department of the project section where the collapse occurred at China Communications Construction Second Engineering Bureau Co., Ltd., and Lin Chaohu, the former third-party testing service project leader of the Shuiyang Expressway Foundation Bridge and Tunnel Project at Shaanxi Jiaojian Expressway Engineering Testing and Inspection Co., Ltd., are under investigation and arrested for suspected criminal activities by the public security organs.
Yang Fuqian, a former supervisor at Beijing Huahong Engineering Consultation Co., Ltd. (a non-public official), is also under investigation and arrest by the public security organs for suspected criminal activities.