There's been an accident in southern Laos. Either the truck load is too heavy, or the bridge is not built strong enough.



http://www.laopride.com/pictures3/truck-causes-bridge-in-laos-to-collapse1.jpg

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http://www.laopride.com/pictures3/truck-causes-bridge-in-laos-to-collapse2.jpg

Please click on image to view a larger version

wow. hope the driver ok.the bridge just look flimsy.

Whoever built the bridge is to blame. A bridge should be designed to sustain double its intended load.

The truck is as huge as mango. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

TexasCowboy wrote on 5^th Aug, 2013 at 2:00pm:

Whoever built the bridge is to blame. A bridge should be designed to sustain double its intended load.

I agree but from the looks of it .the thing look like it built over 20yrs ago.yea i can see they trying to sue the commie.
you want to do what ?  :-?  10yrs hard labor for you even thinking such a thing  :D

The country is actually trying to upgrade the bridge at this town or location with a more modern bridge.  It appears to be that the collapsed bridge was entirely made out of lumber.  As you can see to right of the collapsed bridge there is a new support pillar. 

My theory is that the driver has probably been driving over this bridge a few times while they were building a modern bridge to the right.  However, at this day the bridge cannot compensate for the overall overburden of the truck. 

Is that National Road 13?

I don't know the exact location, sorry.

What river could that be?

It could be the San River that flows into the Mekong River.

What Province?

The San River is in Bolikhamxay province.

Aha.. in central part of Laos.  Correct pronunciation of 'San' means 'short'?

No, you're using an incorrect tone.

"San" sounds like "shake" in Lao language. You know, to shake something, you "san".

There's a town called "Paksan". "Pak" means "mouth", because the town is located in mouth of the San River.

Paksan = means 'mouth shaking'
Vientiane= ?
Luang Prabang=?
Vientaine=?
Savannakhet=?

I don't know, sorry. They probably originated from the Sanskrit or Pali language.

I know that "Luang" is a city and "Pra Bang" is a Buddha statue in that city.

Funny how everyone's blaming the bridge, haha.

Okay, I'll bring out the engineer in me.
1. The bridge was probably built some time ago and has been there for a while with many other vehicles crossing it daily with no issues.
2. Usually on a structure that carries a load such as this (ex. elevators, bridges, cranes, trucks) there is a usage criteria. Many bridges (in North America) have signs about height and gross vehicle weight (gvw) to prevent these types of mistakes from happening. This bridge probably wasn't designed to carry the amount of weight that truck had so why is it to blame? Lao people logic at play again.
3. If that same truck had used this same bridge before then why did it collapse the bridge this time? Oh wait, the bridge didn't change, it's a bridge. However, the truck can change weight depending on what it's carrying inside. Hmm.... some food for thought perhaps?

Anyways, I don't trust anything made in Laos anyways cause it's all built by Chinese or Viets that skimp on materials and cost. That bridge looks like it was made out of wood. Poor choice of materials if you ask me, cause wood can rot over time, or even catch fire.

Ahem..I did not blame the bridge.:laugh2

This bridge is probably mainly used for villagers with motorcycles and probably for 'light' vehicles at best.  For some reason, this trucker  decided to drive over this bridge and probably repeatly in the past. 

Anyway they are building a more modern bridge to right side of this collapsed bridge.

hahaha! Poor bridge. Which oversea country builds the best bridge in Lao? ha ha ha ha


Buk Hoo Kee wrote on 3^rd Sep, 2013 at 7:52am:

Funny how everyone's blaming the bridge, haha. Okay, I'll bring out the engineer in me. 1. The bridge was probably built some time ago and has been there for a while with many other vehicles crossing it daily with no issues. 2. Usually on a structure that carries a load such as this (ex. elevators, bridges, cranes, trucks) there is a usage criteria. Many bridges (in North America) have signs about height and gross vehicle weight (gvw) to prevent these types of mistakes from happening. This bridge probably wasn't designed to carry the amount of weight that truck had so why is it to blame? Lao people logic at play again. 3. If that same truck had used this same bridge before then why did it collapse the bridge this time? Oh wait, the bridge didn't change, it's a bridge. However, the truck can change weight depending on what it's carrying inside. Hmm.... some food for thought perhaps? Anyways, I don't trust anything made in Laos anyways cause it's all built by Chinese or Viets that skimp on materials and cost. That bridge looks like it was made out of wood. Poor choice of materials if you ask me, cause wood can rot over time, or even catch fire.

China men build them the best bridges! :laugh4 :laugh4 :laugh4 :laugh4