Narrow pontoon bridge, traffic depends on "transit hours
Ninh Cuong pontoon bridge located on National Highway 37B, across the Ninh Co River connecting 2 communes Nghia Hung and Ninh Cuong, Ninh Binh province has existed for nearly 3 decades. The pontoon bridge is designed in the form of a barge and connects beams together and then tied with large steel wires, chains,... with a total of 8 pontoons joined together. The length of the bridge is 297m, the width of the entire pontoon is 8.4m and the beam bed is 3.5m.
According to the reporter of Lao Dong Newspaper, Ninh Cuong pontoon bridge has a simple structure, narrow bridge deck, only sufficient for vehicles to travel in each direction, especially during peak hours, the area at both ends of the bridge is very crowded with waiting vehicles.
Every day, whenever ships pass by, the bridge must be temporarily opened to give way, causing traffic disruption. Usually, canoes will pull buoys out to open waterway traffic for ships and boats to travel at regulated hours from 9am - 10am and 3pm - 4pm. Then, the pontoon bridge is pulled back by canoes to connect for vehicles to continue moving.
Representatives of the Ninh Cuong pontoon bridge management board - said that to ensure road and waterway traffic safety, the operation of the pontoon bridge requires being very careful and accurate. In which, the time to open the pontoon needs to be on time for ships and boats to move through. In addition, workers are divided into shifts to be on duty 24/24 to help operate vehicles, regularly inspect the bridge for timely repair and maintenance, avoiding bad cases from happening.
People living on both banks of the Ninh Co River said that Ninh Cuong pontoon bridge has been associated with daily life for many years, and is also an important traffic route that makes travel and trade of goods between localities more convenient. However, every time there are rain and floods, the bridge has to stop operating, and sometimes it breaks, affecting traffic.
Working as a worker, I travel across the pontoon bridge every day to go to work, so I have to regularly check the notice, especially on days when the bridge repair schedule is closed. Before that, there was a time when the bridge was broken by floodwaters, more than 1 month of suspension of operation to repair the bridge, I had to travel around for work, which took a lot of time. Therefore, we people really hope the new bridge will be started soon," Ms. Tran Thi Hue (in Ninh Cuong commune) shared.
Building a bridge worth more than 580 billion VND to replace the pontoon bridge
To replace the existing Ninh Cuong pontoon bridge, resolve conflicts between road and waterway traffic, and shorten travel time and costs for people, the Ministry of Transport has approved the project to build Ninh Cuong bridge across the Ninh Co River on National Highway 37B.
The project has a total investment of more than 580 billion VND, expected to start construction in early April 2026. To date, the selection of construction contractors and supervision consultants has been completed, ready to deploy the main items with a implementation time of about 18 months.
To serve construction, Ninh Binh Provincial People's Committee assigned Construction Investment Project Management Board No. 2 to be the investor of the Sub-project for site clearance. Currently, this work is being accelerated in two key areas. In which, Nghia Hung commune strives to hand over the site before April 5, 2026.
Especially in Ninh Cuong commune area, due to the large compensation volume, especially the position of pier P5 is still entangled with the shipyard. The locality sets a target to complete the handover of land before May 30, 2026.
According to Vice Chairman of Ninh Binh Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Cao Son, the Ninh Cuong bridge project is not only an infrastructure project but also a commitment of the province to the Government and foreign partners. This is also a project with a particularly urgent nature in terms of time. To ensure the commencement and completion progress of the project as committed, the Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee also requested all levels and sectors to focus highly and flexibly in implementing tasks.
