Foshan checked 1,661 bridges in the area and identified safety hazards in three of them, all of which were built around 1992 and located in Gaoming District and Shunde District.

Traffic was suspended on some of these bridges after the Jiujiang bridge collapse. To ensure security, experts are working on a plan to recondition them before the end of the year.

However, an investigation panel concluded the stricken Jiujiang bridge was in sound condition and the accident had nothing to do with the bridge's design or construction quality.

"The main pillar was designed to withstand shocks of 1,200 tons, but the sand barge steamed out of the main navigation channel and hit an auxiliary pillar which could only resist a 40-ton shock," said Chen Guanxiong, deputy director of Guangdong Department of Transportation and head of the investigation panel.

Chen said the design was in line with national safety standards but the collision force of the barge was beyond 40 tons.

Insurance will fork out up to 280 million yuan (37 million U.S. dollars) for the damaged bridge, said the bridge insurer.

On Monday, Guangdong Provincial Department of Transportation spokesman Zhang Yuanyi said that repair work would soon begin on the damaged bridge.

The 1,600-meter-long bridge connected Jiujiang Township in Nanhai district of Foshan City to neighbouring Heshan City. It was built in 1988 and runs over the Xijiang River, a major tributary of the Pearl River

About 200 meters of the bridge collapsed. The captain and five other crew members of the barge have been detained by the police.