Hundreds of households "hold their breath" walking on the degraded bridge

The 40-year-old bridge has now deteriorated but still serves the travel needs of nearly 400 households in Nam Linh commune (Nam Dan). Photo: Quyen Nguyen

Bridge 78 is more than 40m long and nearly 3m wide and was built in the 80s of the last century. It was originally named 78 because it is the bridge connecting hamlets 7 and 8 to the People's Committee of Nam Linh commune. Bridge 78 is also a traffic project connecting Nam Linh commune with National Highway 46 through Nam Dan district.

After many years of use, the bridge has deteriorated and has been repaired many times by the local government and people. However, up to now, the bridge continues to show signs of collapse and collapse, causing hundreds of households to panic every time they pass by.

Many points on the bridge surface have horizontal cracks. Photo: Quyen Nguyen

According to observations, the bridge's components and structures were "heavily damaged: The bridge's railing system was welded with broken steel bars. On the bridge's surface, many places were plastered with cement and peeled off into pieces; the bridge's foot was showing signs of subsidence with numerous cracks. The system of iron bars supporting the bridge's chassis was severely rusted in many places. Especially in the middle of the bridge, some support pillars were broken, just waiting to collapse. Every time people transported agricultural products here, they were extremely scared.

Many bridge pillars have shown signs of subsidence. Photo: Quyen Nguyen

Ms. Vo Thi Tham, hamlet 7, Nam Linh commune, said: "Every day, witnessing hundreds of vehicles passing over the bridge makes me shudder. Especially during the rainy season, the river water flows so fast that it seems to want to swallow the bridge, but people have no other choice. Many times when we pass over the bridge, we are always worried that it will collapse at any moment."

The bridge abutment is full of cracks. Photo: Quyen Nguyen

Mr. Phan Xuan Dong - Chairman of Nam Linh Commune People's Committee said: "Bridge 78 was built nearly 40 years ago. Currently, it serves more than 400 households of the commune to cross National Highway 46. Recently, the commune has allocated more than 30 million VND for repairs, to make it more convenient for people to travel, but it is not optimistic. The local budget is limited, people's lives are still difficult, so it has not been completed yet. The district has also surveyed and set up the project many times, but it has not been completed yet. Regarding solutions to ensure safety for people, since the beginning of the year, the commune has put up warning signs for dangerous deep water areas as well as prohibiting vehicles with a load of more than 700kg from passing through."