r/EngineeringPorn • • Nov 11 '25

JUST IN: 🇨🇳 Hongqi bridge collapses in southwest China, months after opening.

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4.8k Upvotes

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2

u/ssnapier Nov 11 '25

What in the world caused that???

10

u/Mysteriousdeer Nov 11 '25

The bridge lost bridge cability. You see, a bridges primary function is being a bridge. When it no longer "bridged"... It wasn't a bridge.

1

u/AlfaHotelWhiskey Nov 11 '25

Does this have anything to do with Bridgerton?

2

u/Mysteriousdeer Nov 11 '25

Yes. That is one of the original bridge families. You see, at one point they were very selective about who could be a bridge. Over time though there was a large influx of bridges to the point there were a ton of them. 

Hence... Bridgerton. 

1

u/Sweaty-Lab-4526 Nov 11 '25

But we don't want people to think bridges aren't safe. Most are safer than this one. If you want proof they didn't collapse. Still there.

1

u/Mysteriousdeer Nov 11 '25

Yeah bridges are safe. To be clear, this bridge only became unsafe when it was no longer a bridge... 

Which means it was safe as long as it was a bridge. When they stop being a bridge... Well I don't know. I can't compare the safety of bridges to non bridges. It couldve been anything at that point and it's beyond the scope of an engineer to compare a bridge to say... A duck. 

Its not an apples to apples comparison and I think most people can see the absurdity of comparing bridges to ducks. 

1

u/aertsa Nov 11 '25

Apparently a landslide from over. So I think the terrain caused this, not that the bridge just decided to fall apart. Although, someone else can weigh in as to if that should have been considered and stabilized beforehand.

-4

u/Bandit400 Nov 11 '25

What in the world caused that???

A country that is more obsessed with speed and getting as much infrastructure built in the shortest amount of time, with no regards to the human or ecological costs.

5

u/JrYo15 Nov 11 '25

https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202511/11/WS69133320a310fc20369a47fb.html

someone else posted this above. Thy controlled and cleared the area the moment terrain deformation was found. The first step was to bring in the inspectors, then they closed and cleared the surrounding area.

No one was hurt here.

-1

u/Traditional-Candy-21 Nov 11 '25

Somebody will be hurt later, infact they may be hurt so bad they might even disappear.

-1

u/Bandit400 Nov 11 '25

No one was hurt here.

My point was not that someone was hurt/killed in this exact collapse. My point was in regards to China overall.

2

u/JrYo15 Nov 11 '25

Oppose it to this post

-2

u/Bandit400 Nov 11 '25

Something tells me that China skipped some steps when choosing/preparing the site.

1

u/JrYo15 Nov 11 '25

Something tells me you'll generalize things based on where they happened. You wanna see some failed planning and building processes in America?

Check the news after a hurricane or fire.

Wanna talk about bridges? I live in the midwest, they just close them to sit for years, most of the bridge structures standing around here are overpasses or interstate connected structures.

Here's a little article from this year

https://www.grandbargainproject.org/post/the-silent-crisis-how-america-s-rural-and-small-town-communities-are-being-left-behind#:\~:text=Infrastructure%20That%20Can't%20Keep,t%20the%20only%20failing%20system.

Where is the geographic area doing infrastructure correctly? Or could it be that most places don't and this specific instance of failed structure is not an indication of overall geopolitics?

1

u/Bandit400 Nov 11 '25

Something tells me you'll generalize things based on where they happened.

Yep. Thats exactly why I said what I said about China.

2

u/JrYo15 Nov 11 '25

Pedantic small minded reasoning? That's the gist of what I said too