Old bridge serving beyond its life with overloading
The collapsed Hulan River Bridge in Tielì City of Heilongjiang Province is composed of two parts: one part is the double-curved arch bridge built in 1973, and the other part is the T-beam bridge widened during the upgrade of the Harbin-Yi priming road in 1996. The two parts of the old and new bridges are separated structures. Ji Jingman, director of the Maintenance Department of Heilongjiang Provincial Highway Administration, said that there are great differences in design and construction technology between the double-curved arch bridge and the T-beam bridge. "The load-bearing capacity of the old bridge can't be compared with that of the new bridge."