Vietnam needs more than 3.95 trillion VND (189 million USD) for therepair and upgrade of 402 old bridges throughout the country to ensuretraffic safety, according to the Directorate for Roads.
Eight bridges are in such a rundown state that they need urgent upgrades worth an estimated 48 billion VND (2.3 million USD).
A recent Directorate for Roads' survey found there were 738 weakbridges across the country, most of these were built more than 50 yearsago and now threatened traffic safety.
However, capitalfor repairing bridges is limited. According to the TransportInspectorate at the Ministry of Transport, one third of weak bridgesidentified in the survey have not been able to find any investment forupgrades.
Most of the bridges in a dangerous state ofdisrepair are on National Highway No 1A, a major transport route thatsees a huge traffic load, raising the risk of traffic accidents.
The Ministry of Transport and Directorate for Roads say they willprioritise repairs and upgrades of weak bridges during the coming fiveyears.
However, the ministry admitted a lack of capital is still a huge problem.
The country's central region alone, from Da Nang City to KhanhHoa province, has more than 100 weak bridges, according to Department ofRoad Management No 5.
More than half of these old bridgesare along National Highway No 1A, national highways No 19, 26, 14 andthe Ho Chi Minh Highway each has 11 weak bridges.
Several years ago, the department proposed to hire local authorities tobuild new bridges to replace those that were old and degraded.
However, only some of the weak bridges have received investment forupgrades, including Nam O, Ba Ren, Huong An and Chay bridges on NationalHighway No 1A in Quang Ngai province.
The remaining weakbridges, numbering at nearly 100, located in the country's centralregion are in a dangerous state and could collapse, according to Vo DinhDung, director of Department of Road Management No 5.
Dung said bridge maintenance is only a temporary solution, which cannotprevent continuing degradation due to the bridges' long service life.
"Unpredictable accidents may happen anytime, which threatens the safety of people and vehicles on the road," he said.
Dung called on the Government to boost implementation of projects to build new bridges to replace those that are too old.
The Directorate for Roads of Vietnam manages more than 4,200 bridgesalong 93 national highway routes totalling 16,758 kilometres inlength./.
Eight bridges are in such a rundown state that they need urgent upgrades worth an estimated 48 billion VND (2.3 million USD).
A recent Directorate for Roads' survey found there were 738 weakbridges across the country, most of these were built more than 50 yearsago and now threatened traffic safety.
However, capitalfor repairing bridges is limited. According to the TransportInspectorate at the Ministry of Transport, one third of weak bridgesidentified in the survey have not been able to find any investment forupgrades.
Most of the bridges in a dangerous state ofdisrepair are on National Highway No 1A, a major transport route thatsees a huge traffic load, raising the risk of traffic accidents.
The Ministry of Transport and Directorate for Roads say they willprioritise repairs and upgrades of weak bridges during the coming fiveyears.
However, the ministry admitted a lack of capital is still a huge problem.
The country's central region alone, from Da Nang City to KhanhHoa province, has more than 100 weak bridges, according to Department ofRoad Management No 5.
More than half of these old bridgesare along National Highway No 1A, national highways No 19, 26, 14 andthe Ho Chi Minh Highway each has 11 weak bridges.
Several years ago, the department proposed to hire local authorities tobuild new bridges to replace those that were old and degraded.
However, only some of the weak bridges have received investment forupgrades, including Nam O, Ba Ren, Huong An and Chay bridges on NationalHighway No 1A in Quang Ngai province.
The remaining weakbridges, numbering at nearly 100, located in the country's centralregion are in a dangerous state and could collapse, according to Vo DinhDung, director of Department of Road Management No 5.
Dung said bridge maintenance is only a temporary solution, which cannotprevent continuing degradation due to the bridges' long service life.
"Unpredictable accidents may happen anytime, which threatens the safety of people and vehicles on the road," he said.
Dung called on the Government to boost implementation of projects to build new bridges to replace those that are too old.
The Directorate for Roads of Vietnam manages more than 4,200 bridgesalong 93 national highway routes totalling 16,758 kilometres inlength./.
