The bridge is considered a historical witness that suffered bombs and bullets during the war years and has entered its biggest renovation after more than 110 years of existence.
Faced with the serious deterioration of Long Bien bridge after more than 110 years of existence, a large-scale restoration project was launched by the Ministry of Transport in early April 2015. With a cost of up to 300 billion VND, the project to reinforce the bridge, considered an important historical witness of the country, is three times larger than the total cost of two major renovations from 1995 to 2010.
Participating in the construction of the Long Bien bridge restoration project are experienced railway construction units from many different regions such as Railway Construction Company 798 (Hanoi), Construction Company 875 (Da Nang). ), Thanh Hoa Railway Management Company…. The project is entering the peak period of phase one with hundreds of construction workers on the project.
In the first phase of the project, in order to ensure the safety of Long Bien bridge for railway transport until 2020, the entire basic structure of the bridge will be reinforced. Each screw is checked for replacement.
For the remaining original bridge spans, the horizontal beam system on the roof of the bridge is added with steel bars to ensure stability.
Large steel bars are also put into the “belly” of the bridge, strengthening the girder system to support the bridge deck.
The most complicated is the handling of the entire steel frame system in the “belly” under the deck. The steel bars, after more than 110 years of existence, have rusted, and the bridge workers must check to reinforce them with new materials. With a bridge length of nearly 2 km, this job requires hundreds of workers to work continuously for many months.
The construction terrain is craggy and dangerous, requiring bridge workers to work very focused to both ensure quality and keep safety.
The old rotten sleepers were replaced with new acacia wood.
A large barge is always standing under the bridge to serve the repair of pillars in the middle of the river
Phase one of the Long Bien bridge restoration project is expected to finish in December 2015. Once completed, the exterior appearance of the bridge is almost unchanged except for the new beige paint that will cover the familiar old rust layer. The second phase that is started will then focus on the treatment of the road surface on the bridge.
With this repair, the historic bridge with the main bridge section crossing the river with only one original span remaining will continue to stay with the people of Hanoi for many more decades.