By The historic Waegwan Railroad Bridge has unfortunately collapsed due to the recent monsoon rains that have hit Korea:
The Waegwan Railroad Bridge in Yangmok Township, Chilgok County, North Gyeongsang Province (also known as the “Bridge of National Defense”), after standing solidly for the last hundred years, has collapsed in light monsoon rain. The bridge, which, after being built across the Nakdong River in 1905, had withstood not only major typhoons such as “Maemi” and “Sara” but also the greatest Korean flood in the 20th century, in 1925, is a registered modern cultural property.
The bridge collapsed at around 5:15 a.m. on June 25. The Nakdong River had swollen due to rain that had been falling since June 22, when the bridge’s second pier suddenly collapsed, leaving a 100m stretch of the bridge stuck in the water. Several thousand people cross the bridge, now used by pedestrians only, every day, but the fact that the collapse occurred in the early hours of the morning meant that there were, luckily, no injuries.
“It appears that this occurred because of heavy rainfall, which led to higher water levels and a higher rate of flow,” the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs (MLTM) said on June 25 regarding the cause of the accident. But barely 13.5mm (0.5 inches) of rain fell in the Chilgok area on June 24, the day before the collapse, while rainfall in Sangju and Andong, upstream from the bridge, were no higher than normal monsoon levels at 128.5mm and 147mm respectively. The bridge, moreover, was deemed “satisfactory” by a safety examination conducted immediately prior to the start of the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project. A bridge that stood for 100 years during which rainfall levels reached 100mm two or three times every year, has collapsed. [Hankyoreh]
You can read the rest at the link about how the dredging for the 4 Rivers Project was the reason that this bridge that has withstood much greater storms over the past century collapsed.
Also I highly recommend that everyone read this posting from Robert Koehler’s photoblog that describes a tragic decision the 1st Cavalry Division commander was faced with during the Korean War involving this bridge. Robert of course also has some beautiful pictures of the bridge along with other historic Korean War era bridges that are well worth checking out.
She hasn’t seen...
9:01 am on July 2nd, 2011 1
Yeah it’s a pretty epic storm and a much higher volume of water flowing pretty fast for the piers to get knocked out.
8:53 pm on July 2nd, 2011 2
I hope this turns out to be a huge scandal because the Four Rivers Project is, well, scandalous.
5:09 am on July 3rd, 2011 3
I just hope teadrinker manages not to fall off that pedestal, being so much more righteous than anyone else…
5:30 am on July 3rd, 2011 4
The Seongsu Bridge (http://www.google.com/search?q=seongsu+bridge+collapse) and the I-35 Bridge in Mineapolis (http://www.google.com/search?q=minneapolis+bridge+collapse) collapsed without warning, too…
And there were lots of people who tried to make political points off the blood of the dead and wounded in both cases.
This time, Providentially, no one was hurt or killed. But the fact is that bridges fall down. Even if they’re correctly maintained and inspected.
This bridge was not really 100+ years old. It was heavily rebuilt in the early 90s. But I doubt the damage done during the Korean War was ever fully repaired, given the description of the collapse: “The bridge collapsed at around 5:15 a.m. on June 25. The Nakdong River had swollen due to rain that had been falling since June 22, when the bridge’s second pier suddenly collapsed…”
YMMV.
9:33 am on July 3rd, 2011 5
Let me get this straight…
You just said the knocked dong was swollen?
Well… I guess that’s why the member collapsed.
8:25 pm on July 3rd, 2011 6
ChickenHead are you examining eggplants again?
11:10 pm on July 3rd, 2011 7
Q: How does your Filipina juicy compare to a Korean bridge?
They both look like they were made in 1905.
Not all bridges can have a train run on them.
For bridges, a “shaft” is a vertical structure that supports loads. For juicies, a shaft PRODUCES loads.
Dredging the lowest, dirtiest places destroys bridges but recruits juicies.
For bridges, a “stringer” is a longitudinal beam supporting the members of the bridge deck. For juicies, a stringer runs between your member and her bottom lip after you pull out.
When a bridge goes down, the minister blames rain. When a juicy goes down, the priest says to say some Hail Marys and gargle with holy water.
Bridges are made of steel. Juicies do it professionally.
The bottom of the bridge is stuck on its piers. The bottom of a juicy is stuck by her “boyfriend”‘s peers when he is in the field.
For bridges, a box girder is very important. For juicies, the girder part isn’t necessary at all.
If a bridge collapses, you get off of it. If a juicy collapses, you get on it… but first consider the situation to insure no raape charges stick.
Two thousand people use it every day while walking all over it. A bridge also sees that kind of traffic.
If there is a high rate of flow, you worry about the bridge collapsing but you don’t worry about being a daddy.
6:56 am on July 4th, 2011 8
Damn Chickenhead, starting to sound like a 12C now. That was brilliant!
1:39 pm on July 4th, 2011 9
setnaffa wrote:
Neither the Sŏngsu Bridge nor the bridge in Minneapolis were correctly maintained. They collapsed because they were falling apart in places but not being fixed.
Supposedly work was done around this bridge, as part of the Four Rivers Project, that weakened it and made it not able to withstand something it was designed to withstand. That’s a negligence issue, not a random “well, $hit happens” incident.
I’m on the fence about the FRP (some parts are worthwhile, but I think that some of it goes too far), but if the accusations are correct, then this is a clear sign that this project needs to go forward more carefully or not go forward at all.
“Business as usual” can have disastrous consequences, and sometimes it takes an incident like Sŏngsu, Minneapolis, or this to wake people up to that reality.
6:19 pm on July 5th, 2011 10
#3,
Dude, the Four Rivers Project, or the 2MB Canal Light, is nothing but a white elephant, a scheme to funnel public funds into the pockets of his backers.
6:22 pm on July 5th, 2011 11
…And we now know that it’s negative affects are not limited to the local fauna and flora, but also on the country’s infrastructure.
6:25 pm on July 5th, 2011 12
I mean, it’s direct negative affects. Wasting public funds on whimsical projects, funds which could have better served the country in other ways, will always have negative affects.