Widespread anger over infrastructure projects- linked to graft, wasteful spending and quality concerns- has people comparing the bitter harvest of a supposedly resurgent China with the more robust constructions of earlier generations.
When a truck knocked a 10-metre-long section off the side of Hangzhou's 12-year-old Qiantang River No3 Bridge last month while trying to avoid a seven-metre-long crack that had opened up on one of its approaches, internet users noted that a much older bridge nearby had not experienced similar problems.
The double-deck Qiantang River Bridge, designed by China's 'bridge design master' Mao Yisheng and rebuilt 58 years ago, has coped with heavy train and car traffic for decades.
The Ministry of Transport has ordered experts to investigate the partial collapse of the No3 Bridge and its 'management, design, construction and maintenance'. The 1 billion yuan bridge underwent major repair in 2005, just six years after opening.
Web users have taken to dubbing modern bridges 'fragile bridges'.
Three others gave way last month: the 14-year-old Tongyu River Bridge in Yancheng, Jiangsu, the 12-year-old Gongguan Bridge in the Wuyi resort area in Fujian , and the 24-year-old Baihe Bridge in Beijing's Huairou district. One person died and 22 were injured in the Fujian incident.