A local construction firm used cement to fill up cracks and holes on the Hanzhongmen Bridge in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province, raising concerns that the bridge was still unsafe.

Thirty fissures were detected in the bridge's granite railings with the widest crevasse large enough to insert a person's palm.

The problems were discovered earlier this month, a year after the bridge received a 50 million yuan ($7.32 million) renovation, the local Modern Express reported.

The cosmetic repairs did not solve the problem, an official at the city's urban projects quality inspection station told the newspaper.

The uneven contraction strain was identified as the primary cause of the clefts, according to Cao Xuming, the general engineer with the municipal engineering design general institute of the Pan-China Construction Group, Nanjing branch, the local paper reported last week.

An on-site inspection revealed that different materials used in the bridge's body and railings caused thermal expansion and contraction on different sections.

In addition, subsidence of the bridge abutment worsened the situation.

The city's construction commission launched an urgent repair project after the incident triggered public ire.

The commission also issued an official apology for the construction agency's deception and stated that those responsible for the incident will be penalized.

The Hanzhongmen Bridge that runs across the Qinhuai River, is a crucial link between the city's downtown and the booming Hexi region, a newly developed economic engine.

A Nanjing resident named Fei Yangwen, who used the bridge every day to get to his office, told the Global Times he was upset.

"My heart has been weighed down with anxiety. The security of citizens is jeopardized. The government should be alerted to the grave consequences and adopt timely measures accordingly," Fei said.

The incident caused widespread outrage among those who used the bridge.

"What materials could be applied to mend up the cracks of builders' conscience?" said one note on Xinhua net.

The root cause lies in the construction companies' pursuit of a quick profit.

"Some unscrupulous enterprises abandon ethics. Their appetite for profits is insatiable. Furthermore, related government authorities fail to fulfill their obligation, undermining the public benefits," Peng Peng, a graduate from Nanjing University, told the Global Times Sunday.