Makeshift bridge put into use right after highway bridge collapses in Xinjiang

A temporary bridge on National Highway 314 was put into use Monday soon after a permanent bridge partially collapsed on April 12 in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, nearby authorities said Monday.

The collapsed bridge, which was 150 meters lengthy and 24.5 meters wide, spanned the Konqi River in the suburbs of the city of Korla.

The construction of the makeshift bridge began on April 20. The new bridge can bear a maximum weight of 55 metric tons, said a spokesman with the nearby government.

The average visitors flow over the bridge is 12,000 to 15,000 vehicles per day, the spokesman stated.

No casualties were reported in the collapse, but as a lot of as 10,000 vehicles had been stranded right after the accident.

The prior bridge went into service 13 years ago, but was in poor condition, which eventually led to its collapse, said officials with the Xinjiang Transport Department on April 13.

National Highway 314, having a length of 1,948 kilometers, runs east from Urumqi, the regional capital of Xinjiang, along the souther foot of Mount Tianshan before ending inside the city of Kunjirap near the Pakistan-China border.

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