On July 7th, the road surface near the exit of Siping Road on the Inner Ring Elevated Road in Shanghai has lifted, causing vehicles to continuously bump while driving and leading to congestion in the area. The Shanghai Road Transport Development Center staff stated that the steel reinforcement of the road surface was deformed due to the high temperatures in recent days.
This incident was captured in a video circulating on mainland Chinese websites on July 7th, showing the road surface “heat deformation” near the exit of Siping Road on the Inner Ring Elevated Road in Shanghai. Vehicles driving on the road were experiencing continuous bumps, resulting in congestion in the area.
According to a report by Eastday on the 8th, the Shanghai Road Transport Development Center announced that four sections of the “申” character-shaped expressway have experienced road surface lifting.
Staff from the center mentioned that the main reason for this issue is the prolonged high temperatures causing the expansion of the concrete paving layer of the bridge deck. This expansion leads to the deformation of the steel reinforcement within the paving layer, causing internal stress concentration and resulting in the lifting of the road surface.
The China Meteorological Administration issued a yellow heat warning on the 8th, with the highest temperatures in Shanghai and other areas expected to reach 39℃, and some parts of central Zhejiang possibly exceeding 40℃.
In recent days, Shanghai has been experiencing a heatwave. On the 4th, the Xujiahui Meteorological Station in Shanghai recorded a temperature of 38.4℃, making it the highest temperature among the 2421 national-level meteorological stations observed in China that day, with a local heat index reaching 44.1℃. The Shanghai Meteorological Department reported that at noon on the 4th, some meteorological observation points in Shanghai had already surpassed 39℃, with the highest reaching 39.5℃.