Vietnam Road Administration comments on billion-dollar bridge with exposed foundation

Representatives of Road Management Area 1, Vietnam Road Administration (Ministry of Transport) have inspected and made initial conclusions about the quality of Van Lang bridge after reflecting that the bridge foundation was exposed when the water level of the Red River dropped sharply.

On the morning of January 14, a representative of Road Management Area I (Vietnam Road Administration) confirmed with VietNamNet said that the unit has sent forces to directly inspect the safety of the Van Lang bridge project.

"Three days ago, after the report from VietNamNet newspaper, we sent staff to directly inspect the safety of the bridge. During the inspection, we found that the bridge is still safe.

Regarding the images of the bridge piers reported by the press, we checked and confirmed that they do not affect the safety of the bridge," informed a representative of Road Management Area I.

However, the above source said that sand dredging activities taking place near Van Lang bridge area made the unit worried because the riverbed was sinking, which in the long run would affect the quality of the project.

suction cat vl 2 114301.jpg — *Sand mining activities about 200m from Van Lang bridge. Photo: Duc Hoang*

Previously, Mr. Le Minh Nghia, Director of Phu Ha BOT Company Limited (investor of Van Lang bridge) said: The entire pile foundation system of Van Lang bridge is constructed using bored pile method, ensuring permanent structure.

Although the bridge's safety was guaranteed, Mr. Nghia still exclaimed: "It is unimaginable that the riverbed would drop about 4 - 5m compared to the calculation. As far as I know, the height of the bridge pier is 2.5m, and the foundation during construction was drilled with bored piles deep below. So, normally, the bridge pier would be submerged in water."

sentence vl 2 24192.jpg — *The water level of the Red River has dropped sharply, exposing the foundation of Van Lang Bridge. Photo: Duc Hoang*

As VietNamNet reported earlier, recently, due to the low water level of the Red River, the foundation of Van Lang bridge has been exposed.

WATCH CLIP:

Billion-dollar bridge with exposed foundation, BOT director says 'unimaginable'

Faced with the situation of the Red River's water level dropping sharply, exposing the foundation of Van Lang Bridge, the Director of Phu Ha BOT Company Limited exclaimed "unimaginable".