Four lorries plummeted to the ground. For some experts, the bridge was built too quickly in only 18 months. Overloaded lorries are under investigation. This is the fifth big bridge to collapse in China this year. China Railway 13th Bureau Group chose the bridge as a candidate for this year's Luban Prize.

Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Three people died and five were injured when a section of northern China's longest bridge collapsed, only nine months after it was opened. Yesterday morning, a 100-metre ramp section collapsed, causing four lorries to plummet to the ground. Two of the injured were in critical condition in hospital.

Yangmingtan Bridge is located in Harbin City, Heilongjiang province. It spans the Songhua river and is 15.42km long, and was completed nine months ago. Construction began at the end of 2009 and was finished in just 18 months. It opened to traffic in November.

At the time, the construction was praised as a "Harbin miracle". One of its main contractors, China Railway 13th Bureau Group, pitched the bridge as a candidate for this year's Luban Prize, the highest award for building projects on the mainland.

Official media report that this is fifth big bridge to collapse in China since July 2011. Technicians and inspectors wonder if the bridge was built too quickly and shoddily.

In the past few years, China has built infrastructures on a large scale to keep up with the development of its economy.

State Administration of Work Safety chief engineer Huang Yi told a press conference in Beijing yesterday that he had suspicions about the quality of construction. "I think [if the bridge] snapped after only about a year in operation, there must be some problems," he said.

Investigators that are looking at the incident blame it on overloaded lorries that carried feed and stones. Their combined weight was nearly 500 tonnes. But the ramp's designed load was only 55 tonnes at most.

• china
• harbin
• yangmingtan
• bridge
• collapse