Rescuers examine the buried road at the site of a viaduct collapse accident that had killed 9 and injured 16 in downtown Zhuzhou, central China's Hunan province, Monday May 18, 2009. [Xinhua]

The collapse of a 2.9-km-long elevated highway claimed nine lives and left 16 injured on Sunday in Zhuzhou, Central China's Hunan Province. While the cause of the accident is still under investigation, the foremost question which the local government must answer is: Why did the highway designed for a life span of 50 years crash just 14 years after it was built.

Actually, this elevated highway collapsed in the process of being demolished. Part of it had already been blasted before the rest of it crashed. Then another question: Why is an elevated highway being demolished long before it reaches its "old age"?

If it is true that the highway is not wide enough to accommodate the growing traffic and often causes traffic accidents - as officially stated to be the reason for its demolition - then a thorough investigation is needed to find out why it was so designed 14 years ago, who made the decisions, and the rationale for those decisions.

This elevated highway is not the only structure that is demolished to make room for a new one when it is still in sound shape. A bridge in the city of Jianyang, Sichuan province, earned itself a name for its solidness after it stood unaffected during the earthquake last year. But the local government decided that it was a perilous structure that deserved to be demolished. Much to the surprise of the demolition squad, 380 kgs of dynamite failed to bring down the 40-year-old bridge.

This shows how eager some local governments or their leaders are to have new construction projects. It is true that new construction projects will create jobs and become something that local leaders can show off as their achievements. But, at the same time, decision makers cannot be ignorant of the fact that such constructions are also a waste of both human and other resources. Then why do they choose to pull down the old structures that are still sound in quality for building new ones?

The fact that the area of urban construction has become a hotbed of corruption involving government officials is a clear pointer to the reason why local government leaders are so enthusiastic in urban construction projects.

Though it is the third largest economy, China is still a developing country, and our per capita GDP is still far behind many developed countries. There is no reason for us to demolish buildings or bridges or any other structure still in sound quality just for the sake of building new ones. Even if our fast growing economy makes our country the richest in the world in the future, we will have no reason to squander our money on unnecessary construction projects. Frugality has been a virtue in our tradition. It is of even more importance to be thrifty now when sustainable development has been made the basis for the country's development.

Hopefully, the current investigation into the cause of the elevated highway's collapse will also help clear up the question of whether the highway should be demolished. And, if the decision is that it should not be, there remains the question of who should be held accountable for the wrong decision. This should serve as a cautionary tale to other local governments when it comes to decisions on similar structures.

(China Daily?May 21, 2009)