VietNamNet Bridge – Motorists risk death when they traverse any of the 24 deteriorating road and rail bridges recently identified by the Ministry of Transport as extremely dangerous.

The move was prompted by a fatal accident at Ghenh Bridge in southern Bien Hoa City that killed two and injured 26 last Sunday.

According to the ministry, the bridges identified as dangerous were built several decades ago and designed to accommodate small vehicles.

One bridge causing concern is Thi Cau Bridge, which connects northern Bac Ninh and Bac Giang provinces and is used by thousands of vehicles each day and also accommodates the railway line from Ha Noi to northern Lang Son Province.

"The bridge, which is around 300m long and 5m wide, was built nearly 100 years ago, and has become worse for wear," said Director of Bac Ninh Province's Transport Department, Vuong Huu Truyen.

"Leaders of the two provinces plan to build a new road bridge to reduce the load for Thi Cau Bridge but it is not easy to seek funding to build the new bridge, which is estimated to cost between US$15.3 - 20.4 million," he said.

Truyen said the provincial budget for infrastructure development was too small to fund the project, especially as there were many more important infrastructure works needed to be carried out, such as road construction and upgrades.

Three other bridges in a dangerous state were also found in Lao Cai Province. They are Pho Lu, Gia Phu and Ngoi Duong bridges.

Director of the provincial transport department Nguyen Ngoc Dung said the department proposed a project worth VND230 billion ($11.7 million) to build a new bridge to separate Pho Lu road and railway bridge, but a reply on the matter from the transport ministry has yet to be received. "These bridges present a high accident risk," said Dung.

Concerns over difficulties in securing funding for construction of new bridges were shared by deputy head of the Viet Nam Railway Corporation's Department of Railway Transport Safety Duong Duc Vinh.

"Localities should seek out capital or apply for it from the State budget to build new bridges," said Vinh.

Lack of public awareness on the dangers of old bridges was also a concern, according to director of Bac Giang Province's transport department Lai Thanh Son.

"Many car and motorbike drivers still use Bac Giang bridge, which is also used by trains, despite the fact that a new bridge was built only a few hundred metres away in 2008," said Son.

According to statistics from the Viet Nam Railway Corporation, last year 451 railway accidents occurred across Viet Nam, killing 211 people.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News