On February 22, the Lixinsha Bridge in Wanqingsha Town, Nansha District, Guangzhou City, was hit by a ship, and the bridge body was broken, causing vehicles to fall into the water, this emergency once again focused the public's attention on the safety of the bridge. According to CCTV News, the situation is currently being intensively verified, and the relevant departments have implemented traffic control on the road where the incident occurred, and are making every effort to carry out on-site disposal work.
As an important transportation hub across the Hongqi Lishui Road, the Lixinsha Bridge has attracted many attention in recent years. As early as July 2019, the professional bridge inspection unit found that there was a serious disease in the box girder of the approach bridge of the bridge, and the Nansha District Transportation Bureau immediately took traffic restriction measures to restrict the passage of vehicles with a total weight of more than 15 tons, and subsequently carried out maintenance and reinforcement works. By July 2020, the Lixinsha Bridge was repaired and strengthened and upgraded to a Class II bridge through inspection, with the load limit standard raised to 20 tons and the axle load not exceeding 13 tons, indicating that its technical condition is in good condition.
However, the Guangdong Provincial Department of Transport revealed in the "Audit Opinion" issued in October 2021 that in view of the fact that the Lixinsha Bridge is located in the busy Hongqi Lishui Road, considering the safety of navigation and the safety of the bridge structure, it is planned to install anti-collision facilities on the piers of the navigation hole to deal with the possible risk of collision. The approved anti-collision facilities are designed in detail, with different specifications of fenders set up for different positions of the bridge piers, so as to maximize the safety of the bridge and passing ships.
Although the Lixinsha Bridge has undergone a series of inspections, maintenance and anti-collision facilities, the ship collision accident still exposes the potential hidden dangers in the safety management of bridges in China. This not only requires us to strictly follow high standards during the design and construction of bridges, but also to continue to carry out meticulous monitoring and maintenance after the bridges are put into use, especially for bridges that carry important traffic functions and are close to waterways, and strengthen early warning mechanisms and emergency response capabilities.
This incident has also triggered us to think deeply about the existing bridge safety and security system. How to further improve the regular inspection system of bridges to ensure that potential safety hazards are found and repaired in a timely manner? How to find a balance between waterway management and bridge protection, and formulate more scientific and reasonable navigation rules? And how to strengthen the training of crew members to improve their safety awareness and skills in operating ships in complex waters?
Does the fracture of the Lixinsha Bridge indicate that there is still room for improvement in bridge construction and management? In the face of similar challenges, how should China optimize and improve the bridge safety management system, which can not only ensure the safety of the bridge itself, but also effectively prevent the occurrence of similar safety accidents, so as to effectively ensure the safety of people's lives and property and the lasting stability of the achievements of national infrastructure construction? The bridge, which was broken by a ship, has been reinforced and repaired in recent years