As far as symbols of a resurgent country -- and city -- go, there can be few as bullish as a 666-meter-long (2,185 feet) dragon-shaped bridge that breathes fire and spouts plumes of water.

Opened last year in Viet Nam's central coast city of Da Nang, the Cau Rong (Dragon Bridge) is an award-winning, U.S.-designed marvel of engineering that's become a favorite of residents and visitors, and an icon of the prosperous future this once sleepy town has its eye set on.

Located in the Vietnamese city of Da Nang, the U.S.-designed Rong Cao (Dragon Bridge) puts on fire-breathing shows every weekend.

Each weekend, after sunset, residents and visitors are treated to a pyrotechnic show that adds flair to what could have easily been a routine civil engineering project.

The road is closed just before 9 p.m., with crowds thronging the six-lane bridge.

An expectant hush descends, and then, with a roar, the dragon's head spits fearsome plumes of fire, followed by hissing clouds of water vapor.

In addition to the weekend shows of fire breathing, which take place at 9 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday, the bridge is illuminated each night with thousands of LED lights, which flow through the color spectrum, giving dynamic, dazzling views that reflect off the surface of the river.

The bridge is illuminated each night with thousands of LED lights.

Long a symbol of Asian prosperity, the dragon is an ideal image for a city on the rise, and has been taken to heart by the people who live here.

Dragon-themed trinkets can be bought along the banks of the Han River, which the bridge spans, and nearby hotels take their name from the structure.

Boat tours make the most of it -- prows are painted with the dragon's likeness.

"The Dragon Bridge has been the crowning achievement in the city's bridge program," Nick Ivanoff, president of Ammann & Whitney, one of the key companies involved in the bridge's creation, tells CNN. "City officials have said it will likely become the new symbol of Da Nang."

The opening of the bridge not only gives Da Nang an instantly recognizable landmark, it's done much for the city's development in a remarkably short time.

(Source: CNN)