Soft soil mixed with cement blocks spread out, the excavated area spreads towards the river in a fan shape - Photo by Zhang Di
The Huadu District Water Conservancy Bureau explained it was due to geological conditions.
Southern Daily News: In recent days, the reporter has continuously received reports from citizens of Huadu about multiple collapses of the embankment at the A section of Tianma River located on Lihong Road in Xinhua Town, Huadu District. Citizens questioned whether there were quality issues with the embankment. Relevant officials from the Huadu District Water Conservancy Bureau stated that the 85-meter long river section where the accident occurred had an unstable foundation due to excessive silt thickness, causing displacement, and corrective measures have already been taken.
Workers: The embankment repeatedly collapsed.
The main task of the Tianma River renovation project is to rehabilitate the 7.75-kilometer mainstream section of the Tianma River in Huadu, constructing or reconstructing 24 river structures. The renovation project can solve the long-standing problem of foul-smelling sewage flowing in the Tianma River, improving the living environment for surrounding residents.
At the scene, reporters observed that the Tianma River embankment had already begun to be paved with cement, except for a section of embankment near Lihong Road approximately 80 meters long which had been excavated on its river-facing side. Soft soil mixed with cement blocks was scattered around, the excavated area spreading towards the river in a fan shape, with the holes filled with cement. From on-site measurements, the excavated embankment was estimated to be about 1000 cubic meters.
"Below is all mud, very deep, it cannot be dug out completely. When drilling reached more than 30 meters, we still did not reach the bottom." On-site workers introduced that since the completion of this dike segment in January this year, it had been repaired two or three times. Each repair cost hundreds of thousands of yuan, going through processes such as drilling, mud removal, pile driving, and cement pouring, taking two to three months to complete each time, but after repairs, heavy rain would cause it to collapse again.
"The mud is too deep. We need to hire technical personnel to drill and remove the mud, but despite spending a lot of money, we still cannot solve this problem."
Journalists learned on-site that the Tianma River renovation project should have been completed by June 30th this year, but due to the repeated collapses of this section of the embankment, the project has been delayed until now.
"Misunderstanding caused by excavation and refilling"
A responsible person surnamed Liang from the Huadu District Water Conservancy Bureau said that on May 6th this year, when the Tianma River renovation project reached the A section, it was discovered that the silt layer at the bottom of this 85-meter-long river section was much thicker than previously explored, causing displacement during construction. The project was then paused to handle design changes.
"Because downstream projects also need to pass through this dike section, combined with flood prevention requirements during the flood season, the engineering team piled up the fill higher in this section while continuing work downstream." By mid-August, the engineering team excavated the previous fill, placed concrete mixing piles to reinforce the silt, leading to public misunderstanding that "they dug and filled, then filled and dug again."
Mr. Liang revealed that currently, the concrete mixing piles have been completed and will undergo testing after reaching 28-day maturity by the end of September. If the test is successful, they will proceed with bank protection and dike earthwork filling, continuing to complete other parts of the project.
This official also disclosed that after the project's completion, the Huadu District Finance Bureau Evaluation Center will evaluate the project to decide who will bear the additional engineering costs.
Southern Daily Reporter Zhang Di
Intern Reporter Li Xiutina
Interns Li Huisheng and Zhou Wenji