The Butou Bridge in Babu District, Hezhou, Guangxi collapsed. (Picture / flip from Weibo)
The People’s Government of Butou Town, Babu District, Hezhou City, Guangxi Province, China recently received reports from the masses that a section of the Butou Bridge has collapsed. After receiving the report, the relevant departments immediately rushed to the scene to carry out emergency response work, implemented control on the road sections on both sides of the bridge, and announced the detour route. No casualties or vehicle damage have been caused so far. It is reported that the Butou Bridge was opened to traffic in 2015. The bridge is 130 meters long and 8 meters wide. It is currently closed to traffic. The cause of the collapse is still under investigation.
CCTV reported that the incident happened on the evening of February 19. The bridge that collapsed was the first span of the Butou Bridge in Babu District, Hezhou, Guangxi. From the video footage shared by netizens, it can be seen that the collapsed bridge deck is about 5 or 6 meters long, and a cordon has been pulled up to prohibit passage. Government staff in Butou town said that when the collapse occurred, no vehicles passed on the bridge and no casualties were caused. The cause of the collapse and specific losses are still under evaluation.
According to preliminary investigations, the front wall and part of the side walls of the abutment at the Butou end of the Butou Bridge all collapsed from the top of the abutment, and the bridge deck of the first hole fell as a whole. The specific situation of the structure needs further detection and analysis. It is reported that the bridge was officially opened to traffic on July 27, 2015. It is a reinforced concrete box arch bridge with a mortared stone abutment, a precast concrete hollow slab and reinforced concrete columns.
“Hezhou Daily” pointed out that because there is no bridge in the Butou section of the Hejiang River, until the end of the last century, people still had to travel both by water and land to go up and down the fair, and the problem of difficult travel has not been fundamentally resolved. Entering the 21st century, especially since Hezhou was established as a city, the pace of infrastructure construction has been accelerated. At the end of 2009, construction of the Butou Hejiang Bridge started with an investment of 14.33 million yuan. In July 2015, the Butou Hejiang Bridge was completed and opened to traffic.
In addition, in order to ensure the safety of the public, the relevant detour section is now announced as follows:
1. During the repair of Butou Bridge from XA69 Butou County Road in Butou Town, Babu District to Baohe K4+100 Butou Bridge, pedestrians and motorcycles can take ferry boats to transit at Butou Ferry, and off-road vehicles detour around the river beach of Butou Village, Butou Town ——Sanchong, Sanhe Village——Xiangshi Primary School——Donghubu, Xinzhong Village, Hejie Town——Daya Village——Temporary sidewalk at Hejie, slow down. Please strictly abide by the road traffic safety laws and regulations, detour in accordance with the guidance information of traffic signs, and obey the on-site instructions and dredging of the personnel on duty.
2. The traffic detour time is: from 00:00 on February 20, 2023 until Butou Bridge is repaired and opened to traffic. The specific opening time is subject to the announcement.