Controversy Spreads as New Bridge in Jingzhou, Hubei Province, Tilts Shortly After Completion

On February 15, a newly completed bridge in Zhaojialing Village, Puji Town, Jiangling County, Jingzhou, Hubei Province, tilted the night it opened to traffic, sparking concerns.

Residents of Zhaojialing Village in Puji Town took to social media that day, posting videos claiming that the bridge had just been completed and the scaffolding hadn’t even been removed before it started leaning.

The video showed that the new bridge was not very long, probably less than a hundred meters. There were two sets of bridge piers in the middle of the river, with another set on each side of the riverbank. One set of piers connected to the bridge deck was visibly tilted, being lifted by a crane.

On the 16th, a villager in Zhaojialing Village told “Qingfeng Xia,” a media outlet, that because the bridge piles were not driven, after just half a day of traffic, it stopped without any heavy vehicles passing through.

According to a report by Netease’s “Dafeng Wenzishuo,” some villagers mentioned that on the day the bridge was opened to traffic, firecrackers were set off, and as a result, “the bridge was leaning more urgently than the firecrackers burst, and it tilted overnight,” with excavators rushing into the village overnight to “save the day.”

An internet user revealed, “Local construction projects are often monopolized by ‘cronies.’ They hire a few old men to do the construction work, turning a blind eye during inspections.”

Following the incident, staff from the Jiangling County Water Conservancy Bureau responded, saying, “We were only testing the traffic flow; the bridge had not undergone acceptance inspection.” It was discovered that the bridge piers had sinking issues, prompting remedial measures to be taken.

On the 17th, the issue became a trending topic, drawing the attention of internet users.

Many netizens commented, “I’ve been dealing with bridges my whole life, and it’s the first time I’ve heard of not driving piles under the bridge piers.” “It’s fortunate there were no heavy trucks, or it would have been a disaster.” “A bridge built in Changsha was dismantled just two years after completion.”

Some netizens questioned whether this was the result of cutting corners during construction. “How much did the actual contractor get paid?” “Some projects that cost 20 million end up only spending 100,000 (50,000).” “Layers of subcontracting, extreme cost-cutting.”

Others expressed dissatisfaction with the official response, “No acceptance inspection, just a test run… does anyone believe what they are saying?” “Even a three-year-old wouldn’t buy this excuse.” “This time, let’s see who they shift the blame to.”