This bridge located in Xi’an, China connects the villages of Huang and Xuejia.  Completed in 1983, it proved to be an essential tool for the economic well-being of each village by facilitating local trade.

However, water erosion caused two major collapses in 2008 and 2010 left it in the state you see now.  So far, attempts by local officials to repair the bridge have been unsuccessful, leaving residents with little choice but to roll the dice and tread carefully across the thin strip of concrete still spanning the river.

Following the collapses, local officials erected brick walls with messages to keep away people daring to dart across the dilapidated death trap.  But since the people have to eat they knocked a hole into the wall.

In their defense, looking at it from the perspective of someone crossing it doesn’t look nearly a precarious as the photos taken from the side.  Besides what are the chances that the bridge would collapse at the same time I was crossing it.

Source: Copipe Hozon (Japanese)
Images: China Foto Press