a_ general survey of the bridge situation, hundreds of hed stones are either broken or crushed, several fens of bridge shoes are broken. hundreds of anchor bolts are either missing or badly bent, thousands of loose rivets should have been replaced years ago, large number of rail seats on bridges are broken and broken rails are reported at the rate of seven pieces per month. Every bridge is being stressed over the elastic limit and is liable to fail at any moment.
As an emergency measure, the Chinese Railway Administration has adopted the following plans:
1. Strictly to limit train speed and Trains must stop before crossing big bridges, 2. To install speed indicators on every locomotive so that engine drivers can know the exact speed, 3. To replace all loose rivets and missing bolts, 4. To replace bridge bed stones and to add a thick steel plate below bridge shoes to distribute the excessive load, 3 5. To replace broken bridge shoes, inspect carefully, 8. To replace anchor bolts The radical improve me! has been proposed to change all bridges under 30 ft. into reinforced concrete or stone circles, to replace all bridges under 100 ft. with plate girders, and to double up. all bridges above 100 ft. spans. The improvement is planned to be completed in three years.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.