The American Council of Engineering Companies of New York recently announced that central Da Nang’s Dragon (Rong) Bridge has won the Diamond Award in the 2014 Engineering Excellence Awards (EEA) in the structural systems category, reports Da Nang Today.

This is the highest honour for a project outside the US. The award presentation will be made at a gala on March 29, 2014 in New York city.

The annual competition, organised by the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York (ACEC New York), honours member firms for design achievements which show their superior skills and ingenuity.

The Dragon Bridge project was built under the consultancy of the US-based Ammann and Whitney Consulting Engineers with the Louis Berger Group Inc, along with Vietnam’s Technology Development and Investment Consultant N°533.

The bridge features 166 meters of undulating steel in the shape of a giant fire-breathing dragon flying towards the East Sea. The main span of the 37.5m-wide bridge is bookended by two 128m side sections, with a head and tail on each end of those. The whole construction weighs 8,164 tonnes and stretches 666m in length.

It is a bridge with unique aesthetic and creative characteristics, and incorporates complex technologies. Spanning the Han River, the bridge connects Da Nang International Airport with the city's most popular beaches and the downtown area.

After being officially opened to traffic on March 29 to mark the 38th anniversary of the liberation day of the city, the Dragon Bridge has become one of Da Nang’s main tourist attractions and symbols.-VNA