Early Tuesday morning on Zhongxiao Bridge, which connects traffic between Taipei and New Taipei Cities, an accident involving a cargo truck destroyed a section of the elevated road toward Sanchong.
At about 5:50 a.m. this morning, a 35-metric ton steel beam toppled off the cargo truck that was transporting it, smashing a big hole off the side of Zhongxiao Bridge. Footage of the incident showed concrete and dust cascading down from the elevated road, leaving behind a hole that extends 15 meters across the bridge’s outer lane. The falling beam took out a portion of the wall and guardrails, as well.
Thankfully no one was hurt, but one lone car parked by the side of the road beneath the bridge was significantly damaged.
The driver of the cargo truck, surnamed Hong, was driving from Taoyuan to Taipei when he heard a “strange sound.” Upon glancing in his rearview mirror, he saw that the steel beam had already started rolling off, and that attempting to stop the vehicle could’ve only made matters worse.
In order to clear up the traffic on the bridge as quickly as possible, two cranes were dispatched to the scene to hoist the steel beam back onto the truck, after which it was taken away to the construction site.
When asked by a reporter whether the beam was secure, Hong said nothing in response. However, it was found that not only was the truck overloaded by at least one metric ton, but the steel beam was also not properly fixed. As driver of the vehicle, he will be fined accordingly, in addition to facing legal consequences for public endangerment.
Hanna Bilinski for RTI News