Together with Chuong Duong bridge, Long Bien bridge is located on the railway line from Hanoi to the northern provinces, and holds an important position in the urban traffic network accessing key economic regions. However, the Long Bien bridge was seriously damaged in the American war, and now needs to be upgraded.

According to a feasibility study of a project on building Hanoi’s overhead railway line, a new bridge across the Red River will be built, about 50m from Long Bien bridge. The bottom of this bridge’s beam is 3m higher than that of Long Bien bridge. However, Long Bien bridge will be restored as part of another project. In the capital’s zoning plan through 2020, Long Bien bridge will be built on the Yen Vien-Ngoc Hoi railway line, which is being given top priority to be constructed by 2010.

Pham Hai Bang, a representative from chief investor of the Railway Project Management Unit (RPMU), said that under the zoning plan, Long Bien bridge will retain its key role in serving public transport and linking railway lines between Hanoi and the northern provinces. However, perhaps Long Bien bridge’s role as a historical and cultural witness is much more important. “We will conduct research on the current state of Long Bien bridge carefully and work out best measures to restore and upgrade the bridge,” Mr Bang added.

Meanwhile, during an official visit to France in May 2000 of former Party General Secretary Le Kha Phieu, one of the key issues discussed by the two sides was the restoration of Long Bien bridge with its original architectural features. As a result, the French Government sent a number of expert delegations to Vietnam to conduct researches and work with the Vietnamese side on the issue. On July 30, 2002, both sides signed an agreement on providing aid to produce a study on the possibility of restoring the bridge. Under the agreement, the Ministry of Economics, Finance and Industry provided EUR808,000 in non-refundable aid to finance the pre-feasibility study. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also contributed EUR150,450, raising the total aid level to EUR958,450. Vietnam has also contributed a certain amount of capital to the study.

Recently, French experts have co-ordinated with the Transport Engineering Design Incorporated – TEDI to conduct a survey of the composition of the bridge including the bridge pier and span. Mr Didier Trauber from the Thales Engineering and Consulting Company, the main consultant for the pre-feasibility study, said this is one of the most unique iron and steel bridges in the world. There are only three such bridges in France, Chile and Vietnam, of which Long Bien is the largest one. A female expert Nastaran Vivan, a colleague from Thales Company, said that there are sinking holes under the abutment of the bridge. The strong flow of the Red River, especially in the flood season has eroded the under layers while the bridge is aging with time.

It is urgent to restore the 100-year-old Long Bien Bridge to preserve a unique architectural feature of the world and a piece of national history. Mr Bang said it is necessary to make an overall assessment of the whole structure to devise detailed and suitable solutions. Under the consultancy, at least 25 percent of the bridge’s sections need repairing or replacing completely. In addition, it is important to pay attention to the bridge’s looks, which have made a deep impression on the heart of each Hanoian.

However, according to some experts, it is unavoidable to have some shortcomings in the repairing work. It is possible that the “dragon” bridge will be deformed. It is really difficult to make urgent repairs to the bridge while paying special attention to the architectural structure.

It is hoped that a plan to repair the bridge will be made public soon to take opinions into account.