(TibetanReview.net, Nov12’25) – A massive section of the newly constructed Hongqi Bridge in a historically Tibetan region of what is now part of Republic of China’s Sichuan province has dramatically collapsed into a river below on Nov 11 afternoon, just days after the inauguration of a newly built hydroelectric power dam nearby which is likely to have caused it.
The bridge is built in the city of Maerkang (Tibetan: Barkham), Aba (Ngawa, or Ngaba) Prefecture, along the national highway G317, linking China’s heartland with the rest of Tibet from this site.
There were no reports of casualties apparently because police in the city had closed the bridge to all traffic from the afternoon of the day before after cracks appeared on nearby slopes and roads, and shifts were seen in the terrain of a mountain, reported Reuters Nov 11, citing the local government.
Tibetan American Network, an online Tibetan-language daily news service, Nov 11 cited sources in Tibet as saying the geological disturbances occurred just after a ceremony was held on Nov 9 on the completion of the Shuangjiangkou Dam, the world’s tallest hydroelectric power dam, nearly. This 315-metre-tall dam, designed to generate 2,000 megawatts of electricity annually, submerged the old crossing along the G317 national highway, the report said. The dam started filling on May 1.
Conditions on the mountainside worsened on Nov 11 afternoon, triggering landslides, leading to the collapse of the approach bridge and roadbed, said the Reuters report, citing the local government.
A video posted online shows that as the slope deformation intensified, it triggered a landslide, causing the underlying roadbed and the approach bridge to collapse. The collapse of bridge piers and decks has produced a large amount of smoke and dust, noted China’s online chinadaily.com.cn Nov 11.
The Hongqi Bridge—spanning 758 meters across a treacherous gorge in Maerkang City, opened to traffic just months ago in early 2025.
Designed as a critical artery on National Highway G317, it aimed to bolster connectivity between China’s bustling heartland and the remote Tibetan Plateau, easing the arduous journeys that once plagued traders, pilgrims, and locals navigating the steep, earthquake-prone terrain, noted bbntimes.com Nov 12.
At 232 meters (761 feet) high with a main span of 220 meters (722 feet), the structure was touted as an engineering marvel by its builder, the state-owned Sichuan Road & Bridge Group, symbolizing Beijing’s ambitious push to integrate its western frontiers through superior infrastructure, the report noted.
It was part of a broader effort to upgrade infrastructure along the G317 corridor, linking areas around the Shuangjiangkou Dam reservoir to the Tibetan Plateau, noted timesnownews.com Nov 11.
The Hongqi Bridge, in one of Sichuan’s most seismically active zones—where the Tibetan Plateau meets the Sichuan Basin—was reportedly engineered to withstand earthquakes up to magnitude 8.0, drawing on advanced cable-stayed designs and high-strength materials to conquer the 232-meter drop to the river valley, noted bbntimes.com report.
Construction, which wrapped up in early 2025 after years of planning, was part of China’s broader “Belt and Road” ethos, prioritizing resilient links to Tibet for economic integration, tourism, and resource transport. Promotional videos from the Sichuan Road & Bridge Group highlighted its role in slashing travel times by hours, fostering development in ethnic minority areas like Aba, the report further noted.
Nevertheless, the bridge collapsed, underscoring the inherent challenges of such projects. Sichuan’s alpine landscape is notorious for landslides, exacerbated by climate change-driven monsoons and the legacy of massive hydroelectric dams upstream, like the Zipingpu Reservoir implicated in the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake’s amplification.
Preliminary probes point to “geological instability” as the primary culprit, with no immediate evidence of shoddy workmanship—though investigations into design flaws and material quality are underway.
Social media erupted with the footage, amassing millions of views and sparking debates on X and Douyin about “tofu-dreg” projects—a pejorative for subpar construction. Global outlets from Reuters to Hindustan Times amplified the story, drawing parallels to vulnerabilities in India’s Himalayan highways or Nepal’s quake-prone spans, the report noted.