Posted on 07/07/2017 12:10:09 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
A Chinese-built bridge collapsed in Kenya two weeks after it was inspected by the president
A $10 million Chinese-built bridge in western Kenya, personally commissioned by president Uhuru Kenyatta, has collapsed. At least 27 workers were injured when the bridge broke on Monday (June 26). The government has halted construction and sent a team of engineers to investigate.
The collapse occurred less than two weeks after president Kenyatta visited the site as part of a campaign tour before general elections in August. Kenyatta, who is up for reelection, has been emphasizing his party’s focus on infrastructure projects, like a new railway between Nairobi and the port city of Mombasa.
The president promised to build the bridge in Busia county after a boat carrying 11 people capsized on the river, killing everyone on board. Kenyatta attended the funeral for one of the victims, a student.
The collapse isn’t good news for Chinese companies operating in Africa either. Over the past decade, as Chinese companies have won more contracts to build roads and other infrastructure projects across the continent, Chinese officials and companies have worked to overcome a reputation for poor quality and lax safety standards. Portions of a Chinese built road in Zambia were washed away by rains in 2009, and a hospital in Angola was evacuated when local officials feared it would collapse in 2010, incidents that were widely covered in local media.
(Excerpt) Read more at qz.com ...
“I thought you put in the bolts”
“I thought YOU did!”
“T.I.A.”
You took the words right out of my mouth. lol
I worked for Fulton County, GA (Atlanta). The head of Engineering at Public Works was a retired USMC Major who stood behind us inspectors. County standards for subdivision streets was 8” gravel, 1.5” asphalt base coat and 1” asphalt top coat.
I had one contractor who paved over a wet area I’d told him to let dry first or else dig & fill with gravel. Next day it was paved, so I flagged down an incoming dump truck & had him drive slowly over the site. The asphalt was ‘pumping’ since the base was soft.
“Tear it out!” ... and he did.
DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME!
What’s your choice, Bondo or Flex Seal?
Quality job #1
Collapsed like a CNN Fake News story.
Chang should at least make sure the guys are wearing safety gear for the photo op.
There is a bridge being replaced near where I live that is currently 2 years behind schedule, and the cost has more than tripled.
The steel is China-sourced. One set of main beams was sent back, because it wasn’t even close to meeting spec.
There was nothing wrong with the original bridge except that the city stopped maintaining it, so it began deteriorating. It would have been cheaper to just repair the neglect, but then we wouldn’t have a shiny new $100m (and climbing) 80 foot long bascule bridge.
Build a Chinese bridge and two weeks later you want to build it again.
5 foot long pilings in mud to secure a 13-story highrise, what could go wrong ?
Riverfront Exit Ramp.
#13 How would like to living in the other buildings near by knowing what happened?
There’s an old joke from South America back in the 70s/80s dictator days about the new Paraguayan finance minister who went to Chile to meet his counterpart there. He was amazed by the Chilean minister’s beautiful home, Mercedes-Benz and so on.
“How’d you get so rich?” asked the Paraguayan minister.
“You see that bridge over there?” replied the Chilean minister. “It cost $10 million. Five million for the bridge,” he went on, now tapping his pocket, “Five million for me.”
“Oh, I see,” nodded the Paraguayan.
A few years later they met again, this time in Paraguay. Now the Paraguayan minister had a big home, Mercedes, and so on. “Wow,” said the Chilean minister, “How’d you get so rich?”
“Easy,” replied the Paraguayan minister. “You see that bridge over there, it cost 10 million.”
“... I don’t see any bridge,” replied the Chilean.
Smiling, the Paraguayan finance minister tapped his pocket, “Yes, zero for the bridge, ten million for me!”
>You are nuts.
It’s not possible to have a reasonable discourse with someone who starts with an insult. Consider learning how to be civil and then maybe we’ll have a discussion.
Ok, you are clearly not nuts. Sorry about that. Now, can you defend you assertion with facts? The Bay Bridge cost estimate started below $1B and was completed at $6B. Half of that was not fixing Chinese mistakes.
Sounds like Obama’s “Stimulus Package”.
Sorry for the delay. Thanks for the response. The thought that persists with me is that the Pacific Rim is rife with earthquakes and tremors. One small shake in the area of the Spratleys would send those islands slurping down to the depths. Have a great week.
I don’t know if they will last ten years or become new continents, but I think the Chinese leaders would be happy with ten years: mission accomplished.
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