Technical opening of Tu My bridge
Tu My bridge spans the Bua River, located on National Highway 32C (Km26+500) the artery connecting Van Xuan commune with Dong Luong commune of Phu Tho province (connecting Tam Nong district with the old Cam Khe). After 3 decades of serving people, in recent years Tu My bridge has been frequently damaged.
More than 2 years ago, the Phu Tho Provincial Department of Transport (now the Department of Construction) implemented the project "Overcoming the consequences of natural disasters, repairing and ensuring traffic step 2 of Tu My bridge at Km26+500 National Highway 32C".
The above project has a total investment of 27 billion VND, started construction from the end of April 2024 after completing the contractor selection for the construction package of the project - Toan Thinh Joint Stock Company is the winning bidder with a price of more than 22.7 billion VND.
After 2 years of construction, by April 30, 2026, the package has completed items such as: Reinforcing foundation structure, asphalt concrete pavement... and officially opened technical traffic.
According to the reporter of Lao Dong Newspaper on May 1st, at Tu My bridge, the construction process is still ongoing, some workers are digging holes at both ends of the bridge to install traffic guardrails.
Below, the load-bearing part of the bridge has been reinforced, with the addition of reinforced concrete pillars.
In general, Tu My bridge has a new look after a long period of repair construction. However, what people are hoping for is to end the restriction of load through the bridge, which has not yet been met, as the bridge is still prohibited for cars with more than 7 seats as before the technical opening.
Mr. Tuan - a truck driver shared: "Yesterday, I saw a social network page sharing that Tu My bridge was opened to traffic, I thought that all vehicles had been allowed to travel across the bridge. However, when I arrived, I still saw a sign prohibiting vehicles with more than 7 seats. So it has been several years since I was allowed to cross the bridge because I have been continuously banned from loading.
Continuous damage, repair and load limit
For nearly 5 years, after the appearance of damage, Tu My bridge has continuously had to limit load capacity to serve repairs.
Previously, from May 21, 2021, the Department of Transport (old) announced a ban on all vehicles with a total tonnage of over 13 tons circulating through the bridge due to the damage of this project, which must be repaired.
More than 3 months later, on August 31, the traffic diversion was continued to be announced to be extended to 5:00 PM on September 20, 2021.
Nearly 1 year later, on September 10, 2022, it continued to ban vehicles with a total load of 13 tons or more from traveling through the bridge, serving repair work due to the previous appearance of soil erosion in the cone, top wall and both sides of the cone of M0 abutment.
On October 28, 2022, the Department of Transport (old) allowed traffic to be restored through Tu My bridge.
After the Phong Chau bridge collapse incident on September 9, 2024, the Department of Transport (old) issued a document notifying the limit on vehicles passing through Tu My bridge and Trung Ha bridge (crossing the Da River, on National Highway 32), the reason is because they are under repair.
By January 21, 2025, the Department of Transport (old) announced allowing passenger cars with 7 seats or less to travel through Tu My bridge, with a maximum speed of 40km/h. This load restriction is still continuing to this day.
