During recently-raging storm Noul, the middle span of the Nguyen Van Troi pedestrian bridge spanning the Han River in Da Nang was vertically lifted to allow fishing vessels and tourist boats to pass underneath on their journeys to seek safe shelters. These exciting images of the 55-year-old bridge with its middle lifting span took the general public by interesting surprise.

The Nguyen Van Troi Bridge was installed with a span lifting and monitoring system in 2015.

Local people were amazed at the sight, as even those who have lived nearby for a long time could not believe the bridge was capable of such feats.

Prior to the Han River swing bridge, which opened to traffic in 2000, Nguyen Van Troi was the only bridge crossing the River Han connecting the eastern and western sides of Da Nang.

Nguyen Van Troi Bridge is highly conserved as the ‘treasure upon Han River’ for its spectacular design, emerging as now young folks’ new choice to contemplate the city’s highly inviting night - time charm, and thus becoming a must-see check-in spot in Da Nang.

There is no doubt Nguyen Van Troi Bridge is dubbed as a ‘witness to history’, and a particularly-familiar image deeply associated with several generations of Da Nang citizens, observing the city’s unbelievably refreshing changes into a young and dynamic hub as it is to-date.

It is known that the bridge was built in the 1960s by the Americans for the transportation of war weapons from Tien Sa port to the inner- city.

Nguyen Van Troi is one of the rare bridges in Viet Nam having arch structure made of Poni steel frame. In reality, this uniquely-designed bridge consists of 14 steel truss Poni spans of over 500m in total, with the width of 10.5m and no margin for pedestrians.

After the national reunification in 1975, the bridge was named after Nguyen Van Troi, one of Viet Nam’s immortal heroes whose legacies have stilled shined over the historical periods.

In 1978, the bridge’s timber deck was removed and replaced by reinforced concrete, and then, in 1996, the deck was replaced again with steel panels for weight reduction due to its weak foundation.

Da Nang government gave a nod to the turning of the bridge into a pedestrian-only one in 2012 in a bid to create a new inviting place for local residents and tourists.

Initially planed, after the new Tran Thi Ly Bridge opened to trafffic in 2013, the Nguyen Van Troi Bridge would have been removed.

However, in 2012, the Da Nang government asked the municipal Department of Transportation to figure out a way to keep this old bridge’s original appearance unchanged and turn it into a pedestrian-only one in a bid to create an attractive new highly inviting place for locals and tourists. This decision, of course, received high public support and applause.

In March 2015, the BK-ECC Engineering and Construction Joint Stock Company developled a plan on the embellishment of this bridge and submit it to the city leaders for consideration and approval.

In detail, the renewal design allows pedestrians and disabled trolleys to easily access the bridge.
On the bridge stand rest stops and benches for visitors to take a relaxing rest and surf the available Internet free of charge. Also, public parking lots were established at the eastern and western ends of the bridge.

Engineer Mai Trieu Quang, the BK-ECC Director, said, that the span lifting and monitoring system of the bridge was installed in 2015. A span rises vertically while remaining parallel with the deck. The four-tower setup has a lifting capacity of 400 metric tons (equivalent to 100 metric tons per tower). The jack-up system has the lifting speed of 0.233 m/min.

In fact, keeping the original design of the Nguyen Van Troi Bridge unchanged also means conserving the lovely ‘Cinderella’ of the beautiful Han River – a history’s witness that bears many primitive memories of Da Nang, as well as embellishing the city’s beauty in its relentless flow of dynamic growth and innovation.

Hopefully, interesting unveilings of Nguyen Van Troi Bridge may help Da Nang citizens and those who love Da Nang gain deep insight into this old bridge. 

By TRIEU TUNG – Translated by A.T