On the morning of July 21, the Hanoi People's Council Urban Committee worked with representatives of leaders of relevant departments and branches on the renovation, upgrading, and construction of replacement bridges and temporary bridges in Hanoi.
According to Mr. Dam Van Huan - Head of the Urban Committee of the Hanoi People's Council, one of the key and urgent tasks is to conduct a comprehensive review of the entire system of bridges across the river in the area to assess and classify the safety level, especially bridges across the Red River. In the immediate future, it is necessary to reinforce and repair weak bridges, have plans to reduce traffic congestion; in case the bridge does not ensure safety, traffic should be immediately stopped and appropriate traffic flow should be organized. At the same time, develop a comprehensive program to renovate, upgrade, and replace weak bridges in the 2024-2025 period and the following years, and report to competent authorities according to regulations.
According to Deputy Director of the Department of Construction Tran Huu Bao, the Hanoi People's Committee assigned the Department of Construction to manage 587 bridges (including 7 large bridges, 492 small bridges, 13 light overpasses, 75 pedestrian bridges). According to statistics, the whole city has 167 weak bridges and temporary bridges due to the scale of the cross-section not being synchronized with the route, the width of the bridge is smaller than the width of the approach road, causing disruption to traffic routes and posing a potential risk to the safety of people and vehicles.
Of these, 58 bridges are under the management of the city level, invested in new construction, repair, monitoring and maintenance; the remaining 114 bridges are managed by the district, county and old town level.
In the 2017-2024 period, the City Traffic Construction Investment Project Management Board has reviewed and proposed to invest in 41 weak bridge projects. To date, 27 bridges have been completed and put into operation; 12 bridges are under construction; 2 bridges are adjusting investment policies.
From 2024 to now, 25 projects to build bridges to replace weak bridges managed by the city have been implemented; renovation, repair and maintenance works are also being periodically inspected by the Department of Construction to propose a renovation plan in 2025.
Voters also recommended investing in building new bridges to replace or renovate and repair the bridges: Trung Hoa, Thuong Tiet, Nui Vua (old My Duc district); Minh Chau bridge (old Ba Vi district), Tan Dan bridge (old Phu Xuyen district); Khanh Van, Phuc Quan, Vong Tan bridge (old Ung Hoa district)... These works are managed by the locality and have been compiled by the Department of Construction and reported to the Hanoi People's Committee.
The major difficulty at present is not fully identifying the weak bridge portfolio; new investment bridges in group 1 are not in the medium-term public investment portfolio 2021-2025; limited investment capital; some bridge works are in road projects, so the investment time is extended.
In addition, most of the bridges have been built for a long time, some are spontaneous pontoon bridges and temporary bridges, without completion and inspection records; the capital for renovation and repair is still limited and slow to be allocated.
Therefore, units need to continue to conduct a comprehensive review, conduct inspections to assess safety levels, and from there propose solutions to limit vehicles, or build new, replace, or repair them.
"Along with reviewing, it is necessary to develop an immediate response plan, anticipating all risk factors to ensure safety" - Mr. Dam Van Huan emphasized.
