Koror-Babeldaob Bridge
The
Koror-Babeldaob Bridge is a bridge in
Palau that connects
Koror and
Babeldaob Islands.
The first KB Bridge was constructed by
Socio Construction, a
South Korean company in 1977. Socio had offered to construct the bridge with half the cost of much proven
Kajima Corporation, a Japanese company. Almost immediately, bridge's durability was questioned and citizens took safety measures such as driving slowly or keeping windows open.
It suddenly collapsed in September 26, 1996 due to poor construction methods killing one person in the process and shutting off car traffic between islands. As the bridge also housed lifelines between islands such as water and electricity, Palau declared the
state of emergency. Under the request of
Kuniwo Nakamura, then country's
President and foreign minister,
Japan provided emergency aids as well as a temporary bridge. Palau was unable to seek any compensations for damage as Socio had already disbanded following the collapse of
Seongsu Bridge in
1994.
Even today, original bridge's monument celebrating its completion exist, but it has been damaged by human hands to remove Korea from its inscription.
As Palau lacked sufficient fund to rebuild immediately, Japan provided the 3 billion yen in
ODA funds to build a new bridge. Its construction began in 1997 by Kajima Corporation and was completed in January 2002. It was named "Japan-Palau Friendship Bridge" on its opening ceremony on January 11, 2002.
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Photographs of collapsed original bridge - Taken in Octover 29, 1995, about one month after collapse.
