Heat wave likely to have caused fissures in bridge: police

A water pipe under a small bridge burst, causing the overpass to tilt Monday in a suburb southeast of Seoul.

A pipeline under a 20-meter-wide and 25-meter-long bridge in Yatap-dong, Bundang, ruptured Sunday night, resulting in a water jet that led to fissures on the bridge and the connecting road. By early Monday, the bridge had tilted by about 8 degrees, according to Bundang police.

The cracks on the road did not lead to any traffic accidents, as few vehicles were in the area when the pipe burst. Police shut off the 440-meter road leading to the bridge, and the pipe was fixed shortly after. 

A safety inspection of the bridge is underway, but a police official said it is likely that continued high temperatures caused the asphalt pavement to become depressed, pressing the water pipes underneath.

“It is an old bridge, and the heat wave over the past few weeks is believed to have affected the pavement,” the official said.

“Repair work on the bridge will be conducted depending on the results of the safety inspection.”

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)