Joy at the new Phong Chau bridge

On September 28, Phong Chau Bridge in Phu Tho province was officially inaugurated and opened to traffic, but since the previous days, many people have come to directly see the bridge and take souvenir photos; everyone's face lit up with joy and pride.

Indelible mark

Ms. Hong, 67 years old, a resident on the Tam Nong side, has been attached to the old Phong Chau bridge for nearly 30 years. These days, every afternoon she goes out to look at the new, big, beautiful and modern bridge that is about to be inaugurated, unable to hide her joy. She is happy because the bridge is not only a source of livelihood for her family, but also a "means" to connect with her children and grandchildren, because her two children are married and their grandchildren live on the other side of the bridge. Thinking back to the morning of September 9, 2024, she is still in shock.

Image of Phong Chau bridge when it first collapsed, photo: ITN

In the days and months after the incident, the lives of tens of thousands of people on both sides of the Red River, which used to be bustling day and night, were disrupted because the bridge, which was a vital traffic route, served for travel, work, study, trade... In urgent cases, they had to go around Van Lang Bridge, which was the closest bridge but also nearly 40km from the old Phong Chau Bridge, prolonging travel time, increasing costs and increasing prices.

Thank you for the help and support of the people

That is what Lieutenant Colonel Dao Van Hung, Deputy Brigade Commander, Brigade 249, Engineering Command, the unit assigned to search and rescue, fix problems, and build pontoon bridges across the river to serve the people after the Phong Chau bridge collapsed more than a year ago, always mentioned during the talk about the role of pontoon bridges, not just talking about the achievements of the Brigade.

Use ferry to pick up and drop off people on days when the current is strong, the pontoon bridge must be cut.

Lieutenant Colonel Hung recalled that on September 9, 2024, after the Phong Chau bridge collapse, the Corps Commander requested the Brigade to send a group of officers and soldiers to support the search and rescue and reconnaissance forces to have timely handling and response plans. At 11:00 p.m. the same day, the Corps of Engineers officially ordered the 249th Brigade with 160 officers and soldiers, along with 83 pieces of equipment and vehicles, to immediately move to the location to survey and build a pontoon bridge to serve the people.

Due to the impact of storm No. 3, heavy rain, weak ground, high risk of landslides on both banks; complex changes in the hydrology of this area, strong flow velocity always at a high level, making the implementation of tasks more difficult. In addition, the task of stabilizing accommodation for soldiers is also a difficult problem. There are soldiers who have been soaked in water all day, tired when they returned to their temporary resting place, the village cultural house, and leaned against the porch wall and fell asleep. Comrades and people around were always there to support and take care of the soldiers so that they had the strength to continue to the new shift. "A bunch of green vegetables, a bundle of dry firewood, a pot of hot tea, a baked potato... from the people; the encouragement and help of the Youth Union, Women's Union, and local authorities have created more strength for the officers and soldiers of Brigade 249 to excellently complete the assigned tasks.

Ensure smooth and safe traffic across the pontoon bridge.

Major Le Phi Hung, Political Assistant of Brigade 249, shared that building a pontoon bridge to serve people crossing is a determination and effort, but that is only the first step. The work of operating and ensuring the safety of the bridge on a river with complex hydrology and strong currents due to floods from upstream for more than a year is not easy. Every day, officers and soldiers have to get up at 3:30 am, regardless of the weather, to prepare for the bridge to be connected at 5 am the next day, then at 9 pm the bridge is cut to serve water vehicles passing.

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From 5am to 9pm every day, regardless of rain or shine, the Unit must arrange for staff to be on duty remotely at the two entrances to guide people and vehicles. In particular, the on-duty staff always coordinate to prioritize ambulances, fire trucks and support people...

In addition to connecting the bridge to serve people crossing from 5am to 9pm every day when the water flow is below 2m/s, on days when the water flow is 2-3m/s, we have to cut off the pontoon bridge and ferry people and vehicles across. We have not counted how many times we have had to cut off the bridge suddenly when the water flow suddenly increases and use the ferry instead, or even had to stop the ferry because the water flow is strong above 4m/s.

There will be no more long lines of vehicles waiting to cross the pontoon bridge.

People are happy

Phong Chau pontoon bridge will end today after more than 1 year of operation, when the new Phong Chau bridge is inaugurated. The new Phong Chau bridge is nearly 653m long, 20.5m wide, with a modern structure made of prestressed reinforced concrete, meeting the standards of a level III plain road with a design speed of 80km/h, a scale of 4 lanes for motor vehicles, invested by Thang Long Project Management Board and Army Corps 12 (Truong Son Construction Corporation) is the contractor, with a total investment of 635 billion VND.

After more than 9 months of urgent construction, with the spirit of overcoming the sun and rain, the project was completed and ahead of schedule by nearly 3 months, demonstrating the outstanding efforts of the units at the construction site of Uncle Ho's soldiers. The new project not only restores traffic connection for people on both banks of the Red River, but also serves as a vital traffic axis between the Northwestern provinces. This project symbolizes the will to overcome difficulties, the consensus from the Central to the local level, from the army to the people and is even more meaningful when it was inaugurated on the occasion of the 1st Phu Tho Provincial Party Congress (term 2025-2030).

Road up to the bridge.

The bridge is ready for traffic.

The joy of an old veteran couple taking photos on the new bridge.

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/niem-vui-ben-cau-phong-chau-moi-10388233.html