From late September to early October, 2 typhoons struck China, causing severe flooding in multiple areas. WATCH- China’s Tofu-Dreg Dams Collapse, Streets Sink Everywhere, Disaster Relief Turns Into a Catastrophe, China Observer Oct 13 report, transcript follows
From late September to early October, 0:02 typhoons Baaloy and Matmo struck Guangi, 0:06 China, causing severe flooding across 0:08 multiple areas. The disasters led to 0:10 extensive damage, and several flood 0:13 controlled embarkments were reported to 0:15 be at risk of collapse. 0:19 Oh no, it's going to collapse. Hurry, 0:22 evacuate, evacuate quickly, quickly. 0:25 Citizens captured footage of a large 0:27 sinkhole in the road followed by a 0:29 collapse of the flood control 0:31 embarkment. Rescue personnel at the 0:33 scene were seen fleeing in panic. At 0:36 7:50 p.m. on October 8th, a sudden 0:38 collapse occurred near a pump station in 0:40 the parking lot in Nanjing Guangshi 0:42 province, nearly missing several 0:44 workers. Authorities reported that 0:46 traffic control and power outages were 0:48 immediately implemented. After an 0:50 overnight emergency response, soil 0:52 backfilling and leveling work was 0:54 completed by 6:00 a.m. on October 9th 0:57 with no casualties reported. 1:03 Here at Beda Bridge, right under the 1:05 bridge, just past the traffic lights, 1:08 there is a huge sinkhole. The road has 1:10 been closed off. 1:12 The walls at the Shinyang interchange in 1:15 Nanjing also started leaking with 1:17 multiple roads collapsing. 1:21 The road is closed. The road is closed. 1:23 The entrance to the store has collapsed, 1:26 too. This area, it's all collapsed. The 1:28 pavement tiles are cracked. 1:33 The holiday has ended, but the flooding 1:35 in Guangshi continues. The water level 1:38 in Naning River is rising rapidly by 8 1:41 to 10 cm every hour. On the afternoon of 1:44 the 8th, a collapse occurred on the 1:46 flood control embankment on the northern 1:48 bank of Nining Ning's Bridge. By 1:51 evening, the collapsed area had 1:53 expanded.*****
An interchange in Nanjing started leaking and multiple roads collapsed.
**********
Traffic control has already
1:55
been implemented. If the embankment
1:57
fails, not only the flood barrier, but
2:00
also the roadside slopes may become
2:02
dangerous due to prolonged water
2:04
submersion. On the evening of the 7th, a
2:07
13 meter section of the Guangong
2:10
Expressway in Ba cracked and it is still
2:13
moving with a collapse possible at any
2:15
time. Fortunately, no injuries were
2:17
reported and the traffic police have
2:19
blocked the area. In Linu
2:22
13 sections of road have slit, cutting
2:24
off traffic. Currently, three routes are
2:26
open. On the afternoon of the 8th, a
2:29
landslide occurred in a tunnel in
2:30
Naning, blocking both directions. A
2:33
reporter from Guangshi state-run media
2:36
broadcasted live footage of the ongoing
2:38
frontline rescue efforts.
2:42
I'm currently at the frontline rescue
2:44
site. This is a leakage point and we
2:46
still need to fill it with a large
2:48
amount of rocks and sandbags. All the
2:50
reinforcement teams are here, including
2:53
sanitation workers who have come to move
2:55
the sandbags. Firefighters just rotated
2:58
for arrest.
3:01
The leak point was discovered around
3:04
4:30 in the morning.
3:05
Rescue personnel are continuously
3:07
placing sandbags at the leak point. The
3:09
rescue team on site is also trying to
3:11
move concrete blocks as close as
3:13
possible to the leak point. We are about
3:15
to start construction now. The leader
3:17
said no filming during the operation.
3:20
Okay. Okay, understood. But the collapse
3:22
of the flood control embankment and the
3:24
official rescue efforts in Naning have
3:27
raised concerns among experts who point
3:29
out that under the CCP's leadership, the
3:32
disaster response itself was a
3:34
catastrophe.
*****
After the mud dries, it's like farmland with pavement bricks underneath.
**********
A well-known vlogger and
3:36
engineering professional, Mr. Man,
3:38
stated that over the past few days, he
3:41
has been tracking the flood rescue
3:42
efforts in Nanding's embankment through
3:45
various video and live stream channels.
3:47
He concluded that the Chinese government
3:49
has completely lost the professional
3:51
skills needed to handle flood disasters
3:53
due to the systems inherent resistance
3:56
to involving external professionals. A
3:58
small breach almost led to a
4:00
catastrophic full-scale embankment
4:02
collapse. Mr. Man explained that
4:05
handling water leakage incidents is a
4:07
routine part of engineering work. Issues
4:09
like groundwater leaks, culverts,
4:12
raising groundwater levels, and burst
4:14
water pipes are all problems that any
4:16
qualified engineer manager has ample
4:18
experience dealing with. Each has their
4:20
own set of unique methods. Blocking a
4:23
breach in the embankment is no different
4:25
from sealing an underground water leak.
4:27
It's essentially the same. Any qualified
4:29
engineering manager could come up with a
4:31
100 ways to temporarily seal a small
4:33
leak in the embankment. As for permanent
4:35
repairs, those could be planned and
4:37
designed later. But the Nanjing
4:39
government did not use any professional
4:41
expertise. It blindly trusted that its
4:44
firefighters had the ability to combat
4:46
flooding. As a result, a disastrous
4:48
rescue operation began. From the footage
4:50
broadcast by state-run media, it was
4:52
clear that at the beginning, the
4:54
firefighters seemed confused as they
4:56
threw sandbags toward the inner
4:57
embankment's leakage point. No one
4:59
instructed them on how many sandbags
5:01
were needed, and they spent hours doing
5:03
trial and error. In an attempt to keep
5:04
all firefighters occupied, they were
5:06
organized into neat human chains to
5:08
manually transport sandbags, even though
5:10
the sandbags could have been directly
5:12
loaded onto the trucks and brought to
5:13
the brereech instead. The sandbags were
5:15
hauled by trucks to a point 500 m away
5:18
where firefighters manually filled them,
5:20
then pass them along the human chain to
5:22
be thrown into the brereech in a
5:23
half-hazard manner. After 2 or 3 hours,
5:26
the brereech only 2 or 3 m in diameter
5:29
violently collapsed, expanding into a
5:31
massive hole nearly 10 m wide.
5:33
*****
A sudden collapse occurred near a pump station in the parking lot in Nanjing Guangshi province.
**********
Torrential flood waters surged out and
5:35
the situation was on the brink of
5:37
spiraling out of control. The Ning
5:40
government was left helpless, evacuating
5:42
surrounding residents while possibly
5:44
bringing in engineering experts for
5:46
advice. Though it seems their input
5:48
wasn't seriously considered, Mr. man
5:51
said that the firefighters under the
5:53
CCP's command brought several empty iron
5:55
cages, sank them into the brereech in
5:58
the outer embankment, and then brought
6:00
in a small concrete pump to start
6:02
spraying concrete onto the cages. It was
6:05
essentially an attempt to pour concrete
6:06
blocks on site, he added. As an
6:09
engineering professional, he watched in
6:11
disbelief as the powerful riverwaters
6:14
swept away that small amount of concrete
6:16
slurry in an instant, feeling that the
6:18
whole operation was utterly absurd. The
6:21
situation at the embankment in Nanding
6:23
seemed on the verge of total collapse.
6:26
But it wasn't until a local leader from
6:28
Naning gave orders that the atmosphere
6:30
at the scene suddenly shifted. A group
6:33
of migrant workers replaced the neatly
6:35
dressed firefighters. The workers first
6:37
wrapped cotton blankets around the iron
6:40
cages, then poured concrete. They then
6:43
methodically inserted the concrete
6:45
filled cages into the brereech of both
6:47
the inner and the outer embankments. An
6:49
hour later, the Nanding government
6:51
finally announced that the collapse area
6:53
had been successfully backfilled.
6:56
Afterward, the breach sealed by the
6:58
workers did not collapse again. Some
7:00
people expressed similar feelings. Last
7:02
time there was a breach somewhere, it
7:04
was exactly like this. Water started
7:06
trickling through a small hole followed
7:08
by all kinds of amateur attempts with
7:10
the obligatory sandbag human chain. When
7:13
the brereech was several meters wide,
7:16
they were still spraying concrete slurry
7:18
into the water. Then the sand truck
7:20
started rushing into the brereech.
7:22
Initially, the trucks were empty. Then
7:24
they realized they should fill them with
7:26
sand and later remembered to add stones.
7:29
There were even promises to compensate
7:31
the truck owners that ended up being
7:33
broken.
*****
At Beda Bridge just past the traffic lights there is a huge sinkhole.
**********
7:35
Famous vlogger Wang Ya Jun also
7:38
commented that during last year's breach
7:40
of Donging Lake, Yuyang CCP leader along
7:44
with the party loyalists in Yuyang
7:46
battled through the night with two sand
7:48
dredged ships. They ultimately turned a
7:51
1- m wide breach into a disastrous
7:54
collapse spanning 40 to 50 m. Some
7:57
people express similar sentiments,
7:59
saying that under the CCP system, the
8:02
rule is everything is prioritized based
8:04
on political allegiance and political
8:07
correctness, while expertise and
8:09
technical skills come last or even
8:11
become dispensable. The CCP's
8:14
firefighters may be experts in
8:15
firefighting, but they are actually
8:17
quite poor in rescue operations. Those
8:20
who doubt this can watch the various
8:22
rescue news reports and documentaries on
8:24
CCTV. In fact, many of China's
8:27
engineering projects, aside from facing
8:30
flooding disasters, cannot withstand the
8:32
test of rain. On October 10th, in a
8:35
residential area in Utsu, Sani province,
8:39
the ground collapsed after it rained,
8:40
and workers spent the entire afternoon
8:42
filling the hole with stones and cement.
8:45
The vlogger filming the video called it
8:46
a tofu drag project. In Beijing's Pingu
8:50
district, a slope protection project
8:52
worth 260,000
8:54
yen has also been suspected of being a
8:58
tofu drag project. In a video released
9:00
on October 8th, the vlogger introduced
9:03
the project, highlighting how it
9:05
continuously collapsed, suggesting there
9:08
was something suspicious behind it.
9:14
Take a look at this spot. It's collapsed
9:17
here and there's a thin layer of cement
9:19
on that torn cloth, but it's all
9:21
cracked. You can see it's lying there.
9:24
This is a piece of torn cloth. And look,
9:26
it crumbles with a single touch. This
9:29
piece is completely cracked. This is a
9:32
wall that was built. Wasn't it
9:34
collapsed? It can't withstand the rain
9:36
at all. This is a second round of
9:38
construction. Now it's all being washed
9:40
away. The issue of poor construction
9:43
quality in residential areas is very
9:45
common. An elevator maintenance worker
9:48
noticed that the elevator kept
9:49
malfunctioning. Upon inspecting the
9:51
building, he found that the concrete was
9:53
weak as tofu drags. The worker asked,
9:56
"Is this building safe?" In July, a
9:59
person posted a video accusing China
10:01
State Construction Engineering Third
10:03
Bureau of severe quality issues in a
10:06
super tall building in Wuhan. With just
10:08
a light touch of the hand, a large hole
10:11
could be dug into the wall and the
10:12
exterior cement was peeling off. After
10:15
the video was posted on Doí to raise
10:18
awareness, it was maliciously reported
10:20
by China State Construction and taken
10:22
down. Commercial buildings when they
10:25
fail can result in loss of life. In
10:27
August, on the opening day of a milk tea
10:30
shop in Shanghai, the tofu drag ceiling
10:32
collapsed, killing a 17-year-old
10:34
employee. According to a report from
10:37
Minhung District, Shanghai, on the
10:40
evening of August 15th, a decorative
10:43
ceiling collapsed at a milk tea shop.
10:45
The incident resulted in one employee
10:47
being injured despite all out efforts to
10:50
save them. The employee unfortunately
10:52
passed away. On October 2nd, a hotel in
10:55
Lean Yunong City, Djangu Province,
10:57
experienced a roof collapse affecting
10:59
four families who were hosting a
11:01
banquet. The entire banquet scene turned
11:03
into a rescue operation. A viral video
11:06
shows a large section of the hotel's top
11:08
floor facade collapsing. Guests trapped
11:11
beneath the debris were waiting for
11:12
rescue. One man bent over was holding
11:16
his lower back with his left hand while
11:18
a woman in a white dress was seen on the
11:20
phone. Her back visibly stained with
11:23
what appeared to be blood. A hotel staff
11:26
member told the media that the ceilings
11:28
on the second and third floors were
11:30
decorated with objects, columns, and
11:32
shelves. The collapse occurred around
11:34
11:30 a.m. after cold dishes had been
11:37
served. The columns, shelves, and
11:39
decorations on the third floor ceiling
11:40
all came crashing down, staff member
11:43
explained. A local resident stated that
11:45
the hotel involved in the incident was
11:47
fairly wellnown in the area. She was
11:50
attending a relative's wedding at the
11:51
time when the roof suddenly collapsed
11:53
without any warning. The floor was
11:55
quickly covered with standing water. The
11:58
wedding hadn't even begun and I managed
12:00
to crawl out. A family member is still
12:02
in the hospital with injuries. Some
12:05
people expressed concerns that such tofu
12:07
drag projects would continue to be
12:09
prevalent in China.
[Transcripts are here st Heating Planet for readers writers and researchers. Plus, video can disappear. The printed word is forever.]
Just wait. In
12:11
another 10 years, there will be more of
12:13
this. Especially the buildings
12:15
constructed after 2008. There are plenty
12:17
of TOEFL drag projects. It's really
12:20
unbelievable that a building would
12:22
collapse without an earthquake. This is
12:24
unheard of. Public safety issues also
12:27
extend to park railings, roads, and
12:29
bridges. All of which have been
12:31
problematic. On August 10th, a Bayang
12:35
park in Hube province, someone captured
12:37
footage showing a loose connection of
12:39
the park's railings. He pointed out that
12:41
if someone were to lean on it, they
12:43
could fall.
12:48
I've been in the engineering field for
12:50
over 10 years, but this is really
12:52
absurd. The Left Bank Avenue project is
12:56
supposed to be a quality project, but
12:58
the cycling path feels so bumpy. Take a
13:01
look. All you engineering experts,
13:03
what's going on here? On August 8th, in
13:06
Wuhan's Left Bank Avenue, someone posted
13:08
a video stating that after more than 10
13:10
years in the engineering industry, he
13:12
was shocked by what he saw. The reason
13:15
the cycling path was so bumpy, he
13:17
explained, was because only ordinary
13:19
sand was laid under the tiles. He
13:22
questioned whether this could really be
13:23
called a quality project and called on
13:26
professionals within the engineering
13:27
industry to weigh in.
13:32
Only 3 years after opening and it's
13:35
already in this condition communication
13:38
second highway engineering bureau. Do
13:40
you want to come out and explain this?
13:43
The key engineering bridges drainage
13:45
pipes are cracked in multiple places.
13:47
Look at the moss on the beams. When it
13:49
rains, this will likely turn into a
13:51
waterfall underneath. I don't know what
13:53
these drainage pipes are even for. On
13:55
the road beneath the bridge, there is
13:57
yellow mud all over, spilling out from
14:00
the landscaping area. Over here, right
14:02
next to this broken pipe, a large stone
14:05
is placed on a landscape light. Was this
14:08
part of the design? On the other side of
14:10
a cracked pipe, this one is also broken.
14:14
If you zoom in, you can see that the
14:15
crack isn't from a detached joint, but
14:18
from aging and fracture. The rain water
14:21
rushing down from the broken pipe has
14:23
washed all the soil from the slope
14:25
protection onto an active area nearby.
14:28
The sidewalks here are completely
14:30
covered with yellow mud, and it's
14:32
unclear how long this has been the case.
14:34
Look at this small sapling. It's grown
14:37
this tall. The soil here has probably
14:39
piled up to more than 10 cm thick. After
14:42
the mud dries, it's like farmland with
14:45
pavement bricks underneath. In just this
14:48
short 40 m stretch under the bridge,
14:50
we've already found so many issues. As
14:53
for how many of the wire mesh railings
14:55
under the bridge are damaged, or how
14:57
many of the saplings along the route
14:58
have died, we won't get into that. A
15:01
100year project and just 3 years after
15:04
it's been in use, it's already in this
15:06
state. Was there an issue with the
15:08
quality of the drainage pipes along the
15:10
entire route? Was there a problem with
15:12
the bridg's installation? China
15:14
communications second highway
15:16
engineering bureau. Do you want to come
15:18
out and explain this? On September 16 in
15:22
Fudro Fuian, a person discovered that a
15:25
key project built by China
15:27
Communications Second Highway
15:28
Engineering Bureau had already developed
15:31
multiple issues just 3 years after it
15:33
was opened. On September 27, an engineer
15:37
named Du Chaolai posted a registration
15:40
statement on the nonprofit Quit CCP
15:42
website directly criticizing the
15:44
corruption within Chinese engineering.
15:47
The statement reads, "I'm a bridge
15:49
builder and deeply understand that every
15:52
bridge carries the weight of countless
15:54
lives, but under the CCP system,
15:57
corruption in project building is
15:59
rampant and cost cutting leads to a
16:02
substandard materials, resulting in
16:04
frequent TOEFL drag projects. I have
16:07
repeatedly refused to cut corners and
16:10
insisted on quality first, but this led
16:13
to suppression by my superiors, projects
16:16
being withdrawn, and my career being
16:18
hindered. On one critical project, I was
16:21
threatened for opposing the use of
16:23
substandard steel, and was even falsely
16:25
accused of corruption. I have come to
16:27
realize that the decay of the system can
16:30
no longer accommodate professional
16:32
integrity. To preserve my original
16:34
intentions, I chose to resign from the
16:37
CCP and distance myself from this
16:39
distorted vortex. I do not want my
16:42
bridges to become hidden dangers, nor do
16:45
I want innocent lives to pay the price
16:47
for corruption. On the morning of May
16:49
1st, 2024, a road collapse occurred on
16:52
the Chiayang Road section of the Maida
16:55
Expressway in Majou City, Guangdong
16:57
Province. According to the official
16:59
report, 23 vehicles fell into the
17:01
collapse, resulting in 52 deaths and 30
17:04
injuries. After the incident, many
17:07
people pointed out construction issues
17:09
and the inadequate post accident repairs
17:11
on the highway. But the authorities only
17:14
classified the incident as a disaster,
17:16
which has sparked dissatisfaction among
17:18
netizens.
17:20
Du, a senior bridge structural engineer
17:23
from the United States stated that after
17:25
researching the Maida Expressway
17:27
collapse incident, it was a man-made
17:29
engineering quality issue, not a
17:32
so-called natural disaster. He suspects
17:34
it may involve cutting corners and the
17:37
corruption related to layers of
17:38
subcontracting.
17:41
Who has a background in civil
17:43
engineering mentioned that he knew 10
17:45
years ago that such tofu drag
17:47
engineering accidents would be
17:49
widespread in China. Recently, many
17:51
buildings are still under construction,
17:53
but the walls inside are already
17:55
cracking. the basements are leaking and
17:57
in a few years you'll find that high-spe
17:59
speed rail won't be able to run as fast
18:01
because the tracks are no longer
18:03
straight or level. He stated that after
18:06
decades of rapid development in China's
18:08
infrastructure under Xi Jinping's
18:10
ruling, various accidents have occurred.
18:12
If these incidents were viewed
18:14
collectively, they would be quite
18:15
alarming. But due to information
18:17
blockages, many people remain unaware.
18:20
Moving forward, there will be a large
18:22
number of problems with China's houses,
18:24
roads, and bridges. The infrastructure
18:26
built over the past 10 to 20 years is
18:29
bound to see more accidents.
18:32
[Music]
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