Locals in Hai Truong commune used steel bars to reinforce the weakened bridge temporarily (Photo: laodong.vn) Quang Tri (VNA) - People in the central province of Quang Tri are risking their lives commuting on old, unsafe bridges, which have been weakened by recent floods in the locality.
Hai Lang, a remote district in the province, has 170 concrete bridges across its canals. Forty of them were built in the 1980s and are getting weak due to time-related deterioration and increasing number of commuters.
Truong Hoa, a 60-year-old resident in the district’s Hai Truong commune, said he found more travellers using the nearby bridge despite its risky status. Hoa said months ago, the bridge vibrated whenever a commuter travelled on it, forcing locals to reinforce it through temporary measures.
Recently, residents tied steel bars with the bridge poles in an attempt to reduce vibration on the bridge when commuters travelled on it. Locals said many bridges in the district are in very bad condition.
A statistic report made by the district’s economy and infrastructure division said 2,800 commuters travelled on the bridges daily. Tran Kim Cuong, the division’s deputy head, said all these bridges were built from 1980 to 1985, with concrete, steel and wooden structures.
Cuong said the division was aware of the status of these small bridges, but was struggling to find a sound capital source for construction of new bridges to replace the existing ones.
According to Cuong, the district’s authorities have received no reply yet in response to the call for capital for these bridges.-VNA
VNA
