Dilapidated suspension bridge

(Baonghean.vn) - Lam Khe suspension bridge, in Chi Khe commune (Con Cuong) across Lam River, was built in 2005 from Program 135 funding. Currently, the bridge has seriously degraded.

Lam Khe suspension bridge. Photo: Thang Binh

Lam Khe village has 194 households, 825 people, the people here mainly live on agricultural production. The suspension bridge is the only way for people to travel back and forth, exchange goods, agricultural products, raw materials such as bamboo, reed, meters, acacia trees for consumption are all transported here.

Many of the fixing screws on the bridge deck were lost. Photo: Bao Han

After many years of use, the two sides of the bridge have been damaged and rotten, some of the iron bars of the bridge have rusted and broken. The bridge surface is paved with wood, the daily traffic is large, so some have rotted, the screws on the bridge foundation have been lost, creating holes in the bridge foundation.

Mr. Kha Van Dan - Secretary of Lam Khe village Party cell, Chi Khe commune said: "This is the only road for people in the village to trade and buy and sell goods. During the harvest season of agricultural products such as raw cassava, on average, 30 tractor-trailers weighing more than 2 tons pass through this bridge every day, not to mention the trucks transporting raw materials such as glue, meters and the number of people traveling. To fix the damage, the Village Management Board organizes monthly inspections and replaces damaged wooden planks, but that is only partially successful. Lam Khe villagers hope that the State will pay attention to supporting funds to repair and replace the bridge surface with metal."

In many places on the bridge surface, the planks are rotten and broken. Photo: Thang Binh

Lam Khe village also has 150 students from kindergarten to junior high school, to get to school they all have to cross this bridge. Lo Van Truong, 12 years old, a student in the village worried: "Every day we go to school over this bridge, it feels like flying, very scary, when we cross the bridge the planks make a loud noise, especially on rainy days, when the wind is strong, we do not dare to cross the bridge".

Many sections of the bridge are degraded, posing a danger to road users. Photo: Thang Binh

Many sections of the bridge railing were broken. Photo: Bao Han

Mr. Lo Hong Minh - Chairman of the People's Committee of Chi Khe commune said: "The locality is poor and has no budget. Although the commune has a maintenance plan every year, replacing it with wood is not effective. We recommend that superiors have a solution to replace the bridge deck with iron. Currently, the cables are sagging. There are measures to fix it so that people and students can travel with peace of mind."

In addition to Lam Khe suspension bridge, Chom Lom suspension bridge in Lang Khe commune is also in a similar situation. Some of the bridge's surface planks have rotted, creating holes. People are also worried about traveling, especially as the rainy and stormy season approaches.

Bao Han - Thang Binh