Nanfang'ao Bridge

Bridge collapse

The collapsed Nanfang'ao Bridge
Date	1 October 2019 (2019-10-01)
Time	09:30 (UTC+8)
Location	Su'ao, Yilan County, Taiwan
Deaths	6
Non-fatal injuries	12

On 1 October 2019 at 09:30 the bridge collapsed, injuring more than 20 people, many of whom were on fishing vessels in the harbor below.[8][9][10] Video shows an oil tanker truck nearly making it across to the other side when the bridge collapsed, sending the truck hurtling into the water, whereupon it burst into flames. There were in total 6 people on the bridge during the collapse.[11] The collapsing bridge damaged 3 fishing boats beneath it, injuring and trapping a number of migrants workers who were on the boats.[12]

Local authorities requested the armed forces to help in the search and rescue operation, who were then followed by[13] the Coast Guard Administration, Ministry of National Defense and National Airborne Service Corps.[14] President Tsai Ing-wen said, "We hope to safely rescue all in the shortest time to minimise the damages".[4]

Search and rescue operation teams faced difficulties in finding the missing people due to the underwater location which had low visibility.[15] As of 3 October 2019, there had been 6 confirmed deaths.[16] All of the bodies had been brought to the Su'ao Branch of Taipei Veterans General Hospital.[17] The collapsed bridge caused 500 fishing vessels to be trapped inside the harbor.[18]

The day before the bridge collapsed, the area was hit by Typhoon Mitag, and struck by a 3.8 magnitude earthquake at 13:54 in the early morning before the collapse.[3][19][20] However, MAA Consultants are not able to determine the actual cause as the crucial broken parts of the structure have yet to be recovered.[6]

Nationality	Number of injured	Number of deaths[21]
Indonesia	3	3
Philippines	5[22]	3
Republic of China	3
Total	12[6]	6

The oil tanker driver, 61 year-old Zhang Jianchang (張建昌), was rescued from the burning wreckage immediately after the collapse by four workers from a nearby petrol station located 30 meters away.[23][24] Zhang suffered multiple fractures, spinal, and internal injuries. He underwent emergency surgery and was warded in the intensive care unit at the Luodong Bo’ai Hospital.[25] As of 31 October 2019, Zhang was recovering from his injuries.[23]

The armed forces deployed a floating platform to retrieve debris and the boats stuck under the bridge.[17] The harbour remained sealed while the search and rescue operation was ongoing. After recovering the last body, the response teams turned their attention to clearing debris which impeded river navigation. In the morning of 3 October, fishing boats could navigate out of the harbour.[18] President Tsai promised for a full thorough investigation of the incident and that all bridges in Taiwan would undergo inspection.[26] The chairman of TIPC, Wu Chung-rung (吳宗榮) resigned in response to the collapse.[18]

Most of the arches of the bridge were cleared on 10 October 2019, totaling 320 tonnes.[27]

In November 2020, Taiwan Transportation Safety Board published the final investigation regarding the collapse of the bridge. The findings were that the bridge collapsed due to corrosion, lack of proper maintenance and lack of reparation. By the time of the incident, the bridge had only 22-27% of functional cross-section area.[28]

The Ministry of Transportation and Communications stated that a new bridge will be built at the same spot within 3 years.[1] The design and tender for the new bridge will be overseen by Public Construction Commission.[29]

On 3 October 2019, Premier Su Tseng-chang ordered inspections of all bridges in Taiwan.[29]

Due to the fact that many migrant fishermen sleep inside their fishing vessels during night time, a dangerous condition in the case of similar bridge collapse incident to happen again, the Labor Affairs Department of Yilan County Government started the planning to build onshore accommodation for those migrant workers at Nanfang'ao Fishing Port. The project will be broken down into three phases and last for three years, with the ultimate goal of providing the accommodation for all of the migrant fishermen.[30]

The construction of the new bridge to replace the collapsed one started in October 2020. It is overseen by Directorate General of Highways. The cost of the construction is NT$848.5 million and is expected to be completed by 2022.[28]