In the early hours of August 22, the construction rope of the Jiaozha Yellow River Bridge in the Qinghai section of the Chu-Qing Railway broke, causing a section of the bridge’s corridor, several tens of meters long, to fall into the water. Nearby residents reported being awakened by a loud noise at the time of the incident.
According to official Chinese media People’s Daily, the project is undertaken by the China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group Co., Ltd. The collapse of the corridor on the Jiaozha Yellow River Bridge occurred on the east side near Hualong County. The broken corridor of the bridge is at an angle and inserted into the surface of the Yellow River. Following the incident, Qinghai Province has initiated a level III emergency response to the major sudden event.
Construction personnel mentioned that due to the rush to complete the bridge connection by the end of August, nighttime construction was undertaken to meet temperature requirements. The occurrence of such an incident during expedited construction was unexpected.
Comparing the post-accident photos of the bridge, on-site reports from People’s Daily, and pre-accident data of the bridge shows that before the accident, there were lifting equipment and facilities installed on both sides of the bridge’s steel frame structure. After the accident, the lifting equipment and facilities were missing on one side, with what appeared to be broken ropes scattered on the bridge, indicating that the lifting equipment might have fallen into the water as well.
The project leader had previously introduced the bridge, noting that the maximum cable force on one side reaches 1161 tons, equivalent to the weight of 750 small cars. Each tower weighs 1800 tons, with the largest segment weighing 45 tons.
Residents near the accident site informed Red Star News that a loud noise resembling an earthquake was heard at 3 am, alarming them from sleep.
One local resident also mentioned hearing a loud noise in the early morning, noting that the bridge was almost fully connected. However, upon inspection later, they found that the ropes on the right side of the bridge had broken, with green steel pipes falling off, although the overall structure of the bridge remained intact.
Officials from Jiaozha County government and the Emergency Management Bureau responded to Jumuxin News, stating that the vertical ropes supporting the bridge broke, with 16 people present at the scene at the time, and missing persons are still being searched for.
According to CCTV News, as of 9 am on the 22nd, the accident had claimed the lives of seven individuals, with nine still missing.
Online commenters expressed concerns, questioning the impact of such a large cable breakage and the security measures in place. Some remarked that the accident occurred before the bridge was even open to traffic, raising safety concerns for future use.
Mentions of the possible fatalities among the missing individuals saddened many, as the incident occurred in the early hours, leaving them to fall into the Yellow River with uncertain fates.
Previous reports indicated:
Multiple Fatalities as the Construction Rope on the Jiaozha Yellow River Bridge of the Chu-Qing Railway Snaps