PM opposes plans to dismantle iconic Hanoi bridge

The Prime Minister expressed his opinion at a government meeting late last month, responding to controversy that was raised after the Ministry of Transport announced plans to build the Yen Vien - Ngoc Hoi urban railway route to handle the increasing demand for transportation.

Long Bien Bridge is now located in this proposed railway.

The Prime Minister asked related agencies to discuss better plans to construct a new bridge at the most reasonable location and not to consider dismantling Long Bien Bridge.

He also informed agencies that France’s President and Prime Minister also wanted to keep the Long Bien Bridge.

Many people have expressed their disagreements over the ministry’s three plans, released last month, to renew and renovate the iconic bridge as well as to sync it with the railway project.

The first plan suggests building a new bridge exactly where the old one stands while moving nine spans of the bridge upstream to preserve them for tourism purposes.

The second one proposes constructing another bridge with a similar design to the original, which culture authorities have complained would completely destroy a Hanoi symbol.

The third offers to modernize the current bridge while retaining the old spans.

The plans are estimated to cost VND8 trillion (US$377 million), VND9 trillion ($429 million) and VND 9.4 trillion ($443 million) for construction, respectively.

To carry out the plans, the Ministry of Transport would have to relocate over 600 local households.

The ministry has regarded the first plan as the best since it offers more advantages in terms of economy, technique, architecture, and renovation.  

People have argued that the proposed relocation of the Long Bien Bridge spans would seriously damage the iconic bridge.

“Some structures have been part of everyone’s memory for a long time. There’s no reason to ruin a bridge that is so ingrained in our history,” Nguyen Phu Sanh, a reader, commented on Tuoi Tre'swebsite.

Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang affirmed that the restoration of Long Bien has been a complicated issue.

Long Bien Bridge, spanning the Red River, was built in 1903 by French architect Gustave Eiffel, who designed the Eiffel Tower 14 years earlier.

The bridge was once called Doumer, after Paul Doumer, the Governor General of French Indochina and later the French President.

At that time, it was one of the longest bridges in Asia with a length of 1,682 meters.