VietNamNet Bridge – Some of the pillars and beams on Hanoi’s 100-year-old Long Bien Bridge, are not in good condition and some segments are at risk of collapse as the steel frames are too weak. The bridge has not been repainted for 18 years.

Nguyen Quang Long, deputy director of the Ha Hai Railway Company, which is in charge of managing the Long Bien Bridge, said, besides periodic repair, in 2005 the bridge was reinforced at a cost of nearly VND100 billion ($5 million) to ensure traffic safety until 2010. Since then, the bridge has not been reinforced in a major way again, and thus has fallen into disrepair.

Currently the bridge has only 13 old girders erected by the French and many girders have been cut shorter than the original ones. After the bridge was bombed in 1972, six old girders were replaced by 17 temporary beams, which are still in use. According to Long, these girders are the chief weakness of Long Bien.

Long added that the old bridge is not on a list of works for special maintenance, so annual funding for maintenance is limited, about VND7 billion in 2013-2014 and VND3 billion ($150,000) per year in previous years.

The funding is only enough to pay for nearly 80 workers who specialize on scraping rust, repainting rusty components and replacing sleepers and fasteners, and cleaning the bridge.

Long said he had reported the situation to the relevant bodies.

Engineer Do Van Dinh from the Hai Ha Railway Company suggested overhauling the old bridge to fix the cause of the potential risks.

The 2,290-m Long Bien Bridge was built between 1899 and 1902 by the French, and opened to traffic in 1903.

As the only bridge across the Red River that connected Hanoi to the highway leading to the northern port city of Hai Phong, the bridge played a crucial role in many important events in the country's history, including the independence wars.

The bridge was initially called the Doumer Bridge. At the time of construction, the more than 2km-long bridge was one of the world's largest bridges, and one of the most important works of the Far East.

The Doumer Bridge was known as the first steel bridge across the Red River in Hanoi. It was built in 1898 and completed in 1902 by contractor Daydé et Pillé, under the leadership of the Indochina Governor Paul Doumer.

After the country’s liberation, the bridge was renamed Long Bien.

For over 100 years, the bridge has seen many changes since the country's wartime to peacetime, and has become a symbol of the history of Vietnam.

While experts say that the Long Bien Bridge deserves national heritage status, it has not been rated yet, so it is not protected under the Heritage Law.

Hai Ha