The army takes the first steps to install a pontoon bridge to replace Phong Chau bridge.

(Dan Tri) - After the Red River water receded, the military forces began reinforcing the road up and down to Ruong wharf (Phu Tho), renovating and building a wharf across the left bank of the Red River to prepare for the construction of a pontoon bridge.

On the morning of September 16, Ruong wharf (zone 5, Huong Non, Tam Nong, Phu Tho) became a busy construction site. Brigade 249 of the Ministry of National Defense is carrying out embankment work to serve the installation of a pontoon bridge.

Quân đội tiến hành những bước đầu tiên để lắp cầu phao thay cầu Phong Châu - 2

After a week of Phong Chau bridge collapsing 2 spans, the daily activities and travel of people in Tam Nong and Lam Thao districts (Phu Tho) have encountered many difficulties and had to change. Currently, people in Tam Nong district who want to go to Viet Tri city, Lam Thao district or Phu Tho town must go through Ngoc Thap bridge, 14km from Phong Chau bridge. As for people on the Phong Chau bridge side of Tam Nong district going to Lam Thao district, the distance will be up to 31km.

Therefore, on September 10, one day after the Phong Chau bridge collapsed, a plan was made to install a pontoon bridge to serve the people's travel needs. However, the strong and rising water flow prevented the 249th Brigade Engineer Corps from carrying out this task.

When the Red River receded and the flow slowed down, from the afternoon of September 15, the forces of the Engineering Corps and Military Region 2 began reinforcing the access road, renovating and building a wharf on the left bank of the Red River, in Tam Nong district, Phu Tho, to prepare for the construction of a pontoon bridge.

The army reinforced the existing concrete road and poured additional stone embankments to widen it. The work was carried out quickly and seamlessly.

However, the installation of the pontoon bridge is only a temporary solution, because previously, Phu Tho province had proposed to be assigned to carry out investment procedures for two projects. One is to build a new bridge to replace the old Phong Chau bridge with a modern scale, with a total investment of 865 billion VND (100% supported by the central budget). Two is to reinforce and upgrade the weak dike, embankment and flood barrier system of the left and right dikes of Thao river with an expected scale of 18km, with a total investment of 250 billion VND (100% supported by the central budget).

Nearby, engineers are assembling a command post to direct and monitor the installation of the pontoon bridge.

Meanwhile, the search for the missing victims is still being carried out in parallel. On the afternoon of September 14, the body of Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong (48 years old, residing in Thach Dong commune) was found on the Red River, passing through Vinh Lai commune (Lam Thao district, Phu Tho). The whereabouts of 7 other victims are still unknown, including Mr. Luong Xuan Thanh (56 years old, Ms. Huong's husband).

Previously, at around 10am on September 9, Phong Chau Bridge in Phu Tho Province suddenly collapsed, causing two bridge piers to fall into the Red River. According to a report from the Phu Tho Provincial People's Committee, the damage caused by the bridge collapse included one truck, two tractor-trailers, six motorbikes, one electric motorbike and eight people missing.

Colonel Nguyen Dinh Cuong, Commander of the Phu Tho Provincial Military Command, said that the Phu Tho Provincial Police have mobilized divers to be ready to dive into the Red River to verify and search for victims as well as cars and motorbikes in the Phong Chau bridge collapse.