Road closed after sinking near Tian'anmen Square

By Du Wenjuan (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-03-26 16:58

Construction work was halted Wednesday after a section of road sank that lies along a new subway line in downtown Beijing.

A cleaner sweeps a repaved road about 2.5 kilometers west of Tian'anmen Square March 26, 2009. [chinadaily.com.cn/Wang Jing]

Around 40-sq m of the bicycle lane on Chang'an Avenue in front of Xidan Culture Square, one of major commercial districts in central Beijing, sank down about 1.85 cm and was closed to foot passengers and bike riders by traffic regulators as of noon on Tuesday.

The spot, about 2.5 km west of Tian'anmen Square, is located on top of a transfer tunnel between the new metro line and Line 1.

It's the second time traffic at this road section has been put on close watch. The car lane near the sunken area collapsed last October, creating a huge hole at about 10 m deep, according to CCTV footage last year.

Currently investigators on the site kept measuring the road surface every two hours and said they haven't figured out whether the sinking was due to the collapse of the filled in area or affected by the underground construction.

Beijing Metro Line 4, a north-to-south subway line under construction, is expected to be completed and begin service by October.

Previous page 1 2 3 Next Page