Torrential rains on the evening of December 18th, 2018, caused a flood that destroyed the recently renovated Rainbow Bridge, which is an important part of the route for the small trucks that transport bananas from Myitkyina in Myanmar to China. Data shows that the surface area devoted to banana production in Myanmar reached 27 thousand hectares in 2018. Around 75% of Myanmar's banana production areas are located in the north, and Myitkyina is the foremost among them.
The "Rainbow Bridge" is a key bridge between Myanmar and Yunnan Province in China. The bridge partially collapsed on December 14th, 2018, when large trucks transporting ore exceeded the bridge's capacity. The small trucks carrying bananas from Myitkyina found their route interrupted.
A 40 meter shortcut was created for the small trucks in the afternoon of December 18th, 2018. And the road was expected to open for large trucks on December 20th, but then the torrential flood washed away the recently renovated bridge in the evening of December 18th. Large trucks and small trucks are now equally stuck behind the collapsed bridge.
