The Long Bien Bridge is rusty, entangled with potholes, patched here and there

Reporter’s note Traffic Newspaper At Long Bien Bridge (Hanoi) on June 1, vehicles crossing the bridge were very crowded. The roadside railings have been repainted, looking bright, but still showing obvious deterioration. Many steel positions such as cloth torn holes spot.

Many joints are reinforced, patched, rusted.

Railroad bridge railings are rusty, worn out, and warped because of being rammed by vehicles.

The bridge deck was peeled off, exposing the woven sheet underneath, forming potholes.

The road surface is convex and potholes, making it difficult for vehicles to travel. Mr. To Dinh Lang, Deputy Head of Safety Engineering Department of Ha Hai Railway Joint Stock Company, said that Long Bien bridge has been in operation for 121 years. Currently, the steel structures have rusted, the joints between the longitudinal beams and the railway crossbars, the paint surface of the structure is discolored. Especially in the part of the road of motorbikes and rudimentary vehicles, many places of the woven sheet are broken, the road surface is rudimentary with plastic peeling off, forming potholes…

On May 28, there was a collapse of the knitting board, creating a large hole in the road surface. Fortunately, the patrol workers discovered and reported the unit to fix and replace the knitting sheet in time. However, due to not having time to cover the asphalt surface, when the vehicles passed, they still arrived at the canal. Immediately after this incident, Ha Hai Railway Joint Stock Company inspected and marked key positions, set up a preliminary volume to propose competent authorities to approve additional funding for gradual implementation. in the last 6 months of 2022 such as: Replace 850 knitting sheets; Patching about 1,200m2 of rudimentary motorbike and car road surface; Reinforced 750 positions of broken knitting plate with angle steel; Reinforcing 15 longitudinal beams.

Pedestrian walkways are just mesh concrete woven panels, thin so they cannot withstand large loads. Many places the knitting sheet is broken, the maintenance unit must mark it for reinforcement

Many motorbikes go up this pedestrian walkway to get up and down the middle yard, putting pressure on the knitting boards, causing the woven panels to break easily, which is very dangerous. On May 4, there was also a collapse of the knitting sheet on this walkway.

On May 30, Ha Hai Railway Joint Stock Company welded iron bars and signs to prevent motorbikes from walking on the pedestrian walkway.

The beach area in the middle of the Red River is like a tourist and entertainment destination, so many people and tourists go up and down from Long Bien bridge. Although there is a bar to prevent motorbikes from entering the pedestrian walkway, many people still go, get up and down from the middle of the road, obstructing traffic.

Although the bridgehead has prohibition and warning signs, the traffic of vehicles crossing the bridge is still very crowded

Ha Hai Railway Joint Stock Company said that although in 2021, the unit has focused on overcoming its weak position, but it only has enough money for regular maintenance to paint the railings, patch the road surface, and reinforce some beams. Along pedestrians… Photo: Motorcycles, bicycles, and heavy-duty tricycles are one of the causes of “breaking” the road surface, putting pressure on the bridge load.

This unit said, only from 14:00 to 20:00 on May 30, 150 three-wheelers were counted, both carrying heavy loads and not crossing the bridge. According to the direction of the Vietnam Railways Department, the unit will conduct a re-survey and suggest which vehicles are not allowed to cross the bridge.

In the next 2 days, the unit will focus on reinforcing some steel bars under the road surface at critical locations to ensure safety. Photo: The security situation is complicated, the market in the chicken wing area on the bridge causes the concentration of people and vehicles, so there is a high risk of unsafety.

According to the reporter’s research, the Ministry of Transport has included in the 2022 capital plan for the Long Bien bridge (in addition to the regular maintenance and repair capital) two names: Inspection of the entire road section; Funds for repairing pedestrian roads, to deploy the repair in the near future