Work commences on new Duong rail and road bridges

ABO/NDO- A ceremony was held on July 22 to launch the construction of a project to build new road and rail bridges across the Duong River in the capital Hanoi.

The project, with costs of nearly 1,850 billion VND (78.2 million USD), includes two components: a rail bridge and a road bridge constructed in Long Bien and Gia Lam Districts.

The rail bridge has a total length of 1,000 metres and is to be located 16.5 metres upstream from the current Duong Bridge, which is shared by both road and rail lines.

The new rail bridge features a dual-gauge track of 1,000mm and 1,435mm, allowing a speed of 80 kilometres per hour. It has a height clearance of 7 metres, which will be upgraded to 9.5 metres at a later stage.

Rendering of the new Duong Bridge.

The new road bridge will start from the intersection with the current Duong Bridge on Ngo Gia Tu Street and will end at the intersection of Ha Huy Tap and Phan Dang Luu Streets.

The new bridge is to be located about 100 metres downstream from the old bridge.

The project on the two new bridges is scheduled for completion in 2025, according to Vu Hong Phuong, who is in charge of rail projects at the Ministry of Transport.

According to Deputy Transport Minister Nguyen Danh Huy, the project is highly significant to the capital’s northern gateway, with the bottleneck being the shared rail and road bridge, which poses a high risk of both congestion and accidents.

The new rail bridge will also help enhance waterway transport on the Duong River since the height clearance of the current bridge is only 2.5 metres during the flooding season.

Once the project is completed, the old Duong Bridge, which is more than 100 years old, will be disassembled.

(Source: NDO)