Japan suspends construction of elevated roadways after double fatality

Photo taken July 6, 2023, shows the construction site of a multi-level bypass in the central Japan city of Shizuoka where a bridge girder slipped off a raised platform near Shimizu junction on the Tomei Expressway earlier in the day. The incident left two workers dead. Picture: Kyodo

Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has ordered the temporary suspension of elevated road projects it has commissioned following an accident that killed two construction workers.

The workers, both reported to be in their 50s, died and six more were injured when a steel girder slipped off a raised platform during the construction of a bridge in central Japan.

Around 30 construction workers were involved in the construction of a multi-level bypass in Shizuoka Prefecture in the early hours of 6 July when the accident happened, according to Japan Today.

The 65m-long steel frame, weighing around 140 tons slipped from a height of around nine metres, according to police.

The workers were in the process of moving the frame into a different position when it slipped, reports said.

Police are now investigating. The elevated bypass, which was being built to ease traffic congestion, was due to be completed in 2026 but it is not known when work there or on other similar projects, now temporarily suspended, will restart.