Quang Tri: Bridge at risk of collapse but thousands of people still travel

Cho Bridge is located in the old Quang Hop Commune, now Phu Trach Commune. In the past, Cho Bridge helped thousands of people go to the center of Quang Hop Commune to do paperwork. Currently, although the commune has merged and the bridge has seriously degraded, this is still a vital route for students to go to school and people to go to work. Traffic across the bridge is potentially dangerous.

Clip of degraded Cho Bridge

According to the People's Committee of Phu Trach Commune, Cho Bridge was built in 1992. The two piers on both sides of the river were made of reinforced concrete, while the remaining 10 piers in the middle were made of stone, without reinforced concrete. Over time, along with annual floods, the mortar around the piers has been severely eroded; many piers have been deeply eroded by water, which is very dangerous. The bridge piers on both sides have also been washed away by water, creating large gaps.

Meanwhile, on the bridge wall, due to time, the concrete has crumbled, with iron exposed in many sections. The concrete beams below have peeled off, with iron coming out, posing a potential risk of breaking at any time.

Mr. Nguyen Van Chuan, a resident of Quang Hop area (now Phu Trach commune), said: “The bridge was built many years ago and is located upstream, so during flood season, the water flows very fast. Many stones of the pillars are eroded and washed away; the mortar is peeled off, which is very dangerous.”

The iron in the bridge girder popped out.

According to research, Cho Bridge has a surface width of 4.7m and a length of 117m. Mr. Nguyen Chi Thang, Secretary of the Party Committee of Phu Trach Commune, said that the locality has put up signs prohibiting all types of cars from passing through the bridge, only allowing bicycles and motorbikes.

“To build a new bridge, it will cost more than 60 billion VND. The commune has just merged the communes of Quang Dong, Quang Kim, Quang Hop and Quang Phu, and currently does not have enough resources to build a new bridge, so the locality is asking the province to support funding to build a solid bridge to serve the people,” said Mr. Nguyen Chi Thang.