Accordingly, the Vietnam Road Administration said that in order to prevent, combat and overcome the consequences of damage caused by storm No. 3, the Vietnam Road Administration (VRA) issued Official Dispatch No. 11/CD-CDBVN dated September 4, 2024 on focusing on responding to Storm No. 3 in the East Sea and Official Dispatch No. 13/CD-CDBVN dated September 6, 2024 on focusing on emergency response to storm No. 3 in 2024, Document No. 6065/CDBVN-TCGT dated September 4, 2024 on implementing the Prime Minister's dispatches and the Ministry of Transport's dispatches on proactively preventing, combating, responding to and overcoming the consequences of storm No. 3.
In the above documents, the Vietnam Road Administration requested agencies and units to implement the above telegrams of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Transport and documents of the Vietnam Road Administration, and at the same time organize on-duty to prevent and combat storm No. 3; conduct "inspections and assessments of the status of bridges in the affected areas of storm No. 3; weak bridges must be regularly monitored and promptly handled when bad weather affects operations to ensure the safety of the works as well as the safety of people and vehicles traveling over the bridge".
"At the time of the incident, the Vietnam Road Administration had not received any reports about signs of unsafety at the Phong Chau bridge project," said the Department of Roads.
Vietnam Road Administration provides general information about Phong Chau bridge as follows:
Bridge location: Km18+300 QL.32C, connecting Lam Thao and Tam Nong districts, Phu Tho province.
Before 1996, the bridge belonged to provincial road 314 of the locality. In 1996, it was upgraded to national highway 32C according to Decision No. 533/DBVN dated March 21, 1996 of the Ministry of Transport, including Phong Chau bridge and assigned to Vinh Phu Department of Transport, now Phu Tho Department of Transport, for management.
The regular management and maintenance unit is Phu Tho Road Management, Repair and Construction Company.
The bridge has a length of 375.86m, including 8 spans, arranged according to the diagram from the left bank (Lam Thao district) to the right as follows: 4 prestressed concrete beam spans 33m, then 3 steel frame spans 66 + 64 + 80, the last span on the Tam Nong side is a 21m prestressed concrete beam.
Bridge width: 09m.
Construction completion time and put into operation in 1995.
The bridge crosses the Red River and is navigable; affected by annual floods; flood season is approximately from June to October.
Regarding management and maintenance work as follows:
Phu Tho Department of Transport has bid to select a contractor for regular management and maintenance from 2024 to 2027.
Every year, the bridge and National Highway 32C are planned for maintenance, allocated capital for maintenance, and the Department of Transport (Investor) organizes the selection of contractors to perform maintenance according to the assigned plan; including:
In 2010, the bridge railing, bridge deck, and expansion joints were repaired; in 2013, the reinforced concrete span beams were replaced, the expansion joints were replaced with toothed joints, and the bridge deck was resurfaced.
2018: Anti-collision column treatment;
2019: Handling erosion of pillars T6 and T7;
2023: Repair and paint steel beam structure and expansion joints.
Regarding the collapse of Phong Chau bridge, the Vietnam Road Administration reported: At about 10:02 a.m. on September 9, 2024, due to the impact of storm No. 3 causing rain, floods, high water level of the Red River, and high flow velocity, Phong Chau bridge collapsed pillar T7 and collapsed 2 main spans T6 and T7 (2 steel frame spans) resting on pillar T7.
