The city government is planning to renovate or rebuild 98 of the city's dilapidated bridges by the end of this year.
The bridges, most found in rural districts are either rundown or not strong enough to hold modern loads, officials of the Shanghai Engineering Administrative Bureau said yesterday.
"The renovation of these old bridges is urgent because they are potentially life-threatening," Jiang Wei, an official with the bureau, told Shanghai Daily yesterday.
Last summer, part of the 1,000-year-old Tai'an Bridge in the Zhujiajiao Town of Qingpu District collapsed, without causing any injuries. Town officials said the bridge had not been repaired for 400 years.
The renovation project will be funded by governments at municipal and district levels.
"After the renovation, each of the rundown bridges will have a minimal load of 15 tons, meaning they will be safe for modern transport use," said Jiang.
The bureau said the city has more than 1,500 bridges, including some 800 bridges in rural areas.
"The renovation will also aid the development of the city's rural areas as more events are held there," said Chen Youhua, a senior engineer of the Shanghai Urban Planning Administrative Bureau.
A group of researchers from the urban planning bureau have invented a computerized bridge monitoring system to work out the "safety status" of a bridge.