Bridge girder falls, killing 2 workers at Shizuoka construction site

Very sad news. Wishing fast recovery to the injured people.

Very bad, very sad, and should not be happening.

"The bridge is slated to open in the spring of 2026."

And nothing; nor any number of human fatalities, will infringe upon that construction company forecast...

Horrible sad tragedy. I wonder if it was an accident because of failure or human error.

That’s not good. I expect that kind of thing in China, not Japan.

I've watched construction here, and it is terrifying. No harnesses, climbing on scaffolding instead of using a cherry-picker or even a ladder. Health and Safety is out of control in the UK, but at times like this, I'm glad it exists. Here, construction seems to be rather haphazard.

The police are investigating the incident and are considering charging those found responsible with professional negligence resulting in death.

Typical response when someone dies at a construction accident. Reality may be totally different.

The seven people taken to hospital are aged from their 30s to their 70s, according to police and firefighters.

How many in their 70's? And what the frick is a 70's old man doing at a construction site like this? THIS alone needs some "investigating".

I've watched construction here, and it is terrifying. No harnesses, climbing on scaffolding instead of using a cherry-picker or even a ladder.

Then you were watching an illegally run construction site, and there are LAWS specifying that workers much adhere to on sites.

My nieces husband worked on the scaffolding and building of Tokyo Skytree, and we talked about this on a number of times. The "genba" sekininsha is often times the main problem, as they push workers to get jobs done, and when no one is watching, they cut corners and when that happens, invariably accidents occur.

. Here, construction seems to be rather haphazard.

Reality is totally different.

Infrastructure only lasts 30-40 years. Expect more disasters.

And what the frick is a 70's old man doing at a construction site like this? THIS alone needs some "investigating".

Presumably waving an orange stick at appropriate times.

Infrastructure only lasts 30-40 years. Expect more disasters.

This. Your single vote up came from me. Indeed, going to be a very serious issue in coming years here. Nowhere near enough workers to repair it all, and also no money. Expect things to get really run down and downright dangerous. Already starting to see it. The state of some of the bridges, tunnels and overpasses here is bad.

Negligence, what are they doing at 3 am? Poor design, poor construction supervision. Japan should not be allowed to take part in overseas bridge projects till the guilty are found and punished. I find many laugh at overseas accidents sarcastically; but see under your nose, so many accidents keep happening here every few days.

Otsukaresama deshita. RIP.

The biggest part of the problem is you have the “police” performing a health and safety investigation. How can policemen perform such investigations if they are not technically sound in understanding load bearing structures or crane lifting capabilities etc. what are they going to do besides ask questions perhaps not tied to understanding the engineering that was taking place. I don’t get it the police. Do they have something similar to Occupational Health and Safety (OSHA) who are properly trained to know what construction codes of the country are?

The police conducted an on-site inspection of the site to check the safety practices taken there.

Removal of the girder is expected to take place on Friday or later as police continue their investigations and consider charging those found responsible with professional negligence resulting in death.

In this type of incidents, qualified experts should do the safety investigation to identify if there was negligence or not. It shouldn’t be just the police although police can do generic investigation without moving any object.

GaijinjlandJuly 6 09:14 pm JST

Unfortunate but at least not as bad as the US where the infrastructure is decaying and bridges literally collapse with cars passing overhead.

It's a big country without the same level of pork that promoted infrastructure in Japan. Bridge collapses are still pretty rare, though, since we inspect these things. I'm sure you knew all of that and just failed to mention it in your non-sequitur.

TokyoLivingToday 01:59 am JST

It's a big country without the same level of pork that promoted infrastructure in Japan. Bridge collapses are still pretty rare, though, since we inspect these things. I'm sure you knew all of that and just failed to mention it in your non-sequitur.

Accep it, your good old US is aged, They spend billions on making wars but the infrastructure is falling apart..

No one is more aged than your favorite countries.

he biggest part of the problem is you have the “police” performing a health and safety investigation. 

You dont know the system here when you make a comment like this, plain and simple.

Cops may "lead" the investigation, but professional investigators will handle the details.

How many in their 70's? And what the frick is a 70's old man doing at a construction site like this? THIS alone needs some "investigating".

Brother, I've worked on demolition sites which are MORE dangerous and hard work than construction and I can tell you there were A LOT of guys in their 70's doing demo.

Hats off to them- they were as tough as nails.

MatJuly 6  06:42 pm JST.................................Health and Safety is out of control in the UK

Why..How?...........most health and safety rules are broken or ignored by People.....not the rules.