Long Bien Bridge walkway has a large hole, the railway “patches” urgently

The Long Bien bridge maintenance unit is urgently installing new woven panels as soon as it discovers that the pedestrian walkway is punctured.

On the social network facebook, an account recently shared a picture of a pedestrian walkway on Long Bien Bridge with a missing knitting sheet, which looks extremely dangerous.

The image of the “perforated” Long Bien bridge walkway was shared on social networks

The woven sheet is missing, creating a hole as big as an adult can get through, seeing the parts and structure of the bridge below. With this hole, as long as pedestrians do not pay attention, especially at night, the risk of tripping and falling into the river is very high.

Confirming this information, talking to PV Traffic Newspaper, leaders of Ha Hai Railway Joint Stock Company – the unit in charge of protecting and maintaining Long Bien bridge said: In this afternoon (May 4), the company On the occasion of patrolling Long Bien bridge, when he discovered that the knitting sheet was missing, he immediately reported it to the unit.

“We have installed a new knitting board immediately, to ensure the safety of pedestrians on the bridge”, this person said and added: The reason for the missing knitting sheet is because many people ride motorbikes on the road for the bridge. pedestrians to go down the bridge to the Red River alluvial ground below, causing the woven sheet to break.

This position also said that, currently on the bridge, the road surface is degraded, peeling a lot, causing many convexities and potholes. Some other items are also degraded. Meanwhile, the state budget maintenance funding for railway infrastructure in general and Long Bien bridge in particular has not yet met the demand.

The bridge maintenance unit replaces the new knitting board, “patches” the hole in the footpath of Long Bien bridge

“In 2021, the budget for Long Bien Bridge will be more than 7 billion VND for maintenance, but it will only meet about 45% of the demand. This money is mainly spent on replacing wooden sleepers, painting beams, painting railings, etc. patching the road surface, reinforcing some beams along the way …”, this person said.

In such a limited capital condition, Ha Hai Railway Joint Stock Company performs general maintenance once/year, preservation 3 times/year, prioritizing funding for priority items to ensure safe running. ships, safe for vehicles to cross the bridge.

In 2022, the maintenance cost for Long Bien bridge is about 8 billion, meeting about 50% of the demand. In which, in the first quarter, the unit has painted 2000m2, replaced nearly 100 wooden sleepers, general maintenance of 250m, the rest is preserved and patched the road surface in places that have been dislodged. Currently, the unit has recorded the name of the periodic repair of damaged items, which should be prioritized for repair in the near future.