Statistical Analysis of the Causes of Bridge Collapse in China

A total of 157 bridge collapses, not including the ones caused by earthquake, were collected from the public media report in China from January 2000 to March 2012. The information, including the cause, bridge type, bridge scale and location, were studied in statistical way. The analysis indicated that the bridge collapse is mostly caused by natural disaster. Especially the flood is a main cause besides earthquake. Unreasonable construction scheme is the main causes in artificial factors and the collapses of overload and collision has a large proportion in total. According to the bridge attribute information, arch bridge collapses more frequently than other types; the longer the bridge is, the more frequently the collapse may occur from this statistic; collapses in countryside are two times more than the ones in city. Based on this study, some suggestions are provided such as perfect safety assurance system, standardized bridge maintenance and management, more intensive study on new technology and the natural disasters.